(Part 2 of 2)

Once people become informed about unclaimed property, and even after they know that they may be owed money from a number of states, they tend to do one quick search and assume that whatever the search results say is the end of the story. Sadly, not all unclaimed property web sites the same, and there is not one search that checks the databases of all states. Even when you break it down to the state level, the records are often very unreliable due to the fact that they aren't updated in real time.

Every state has its own laws dictating when missing cash must be handed over to the department that deals with these types of assets in that state. And each type of property (safe deposit box contents, stock or bonds, utility refunds, insurance proceeds, lost or forgotten uncashed checks, dormant bank accounts, dividends & bond interest, etc.) has its own individual dormancy period, which is the amount of time that must pass before the funds are deemed "unclaimed". Because of this, different money is handed over to each state all the time, but the states only update their records whenever they find the employees and time to do so. For these reasons, anyone truly interested in tracking down all possible money claims must search often, in addition to learning where to perform a search where not to search.

These issues, and a number of others, can seem overwhelming to a confused beginner in the found money arena, but now searchers can use guides created by experts in the field to avoid the problems that usually plague rookies. For people who think they can handle their cash better than their state treasurer's department, you owe it to yourselves to learn all about the best ways to search and then get going ASAP.

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California helps owners of unclaimed property
Hundreds of folks with unclaimed money – old bank accounts, overlooked stock shares, forgotten refunds – are getting a chance to retrieve it without going through state government.

This week, I'm answering questions from readers, because there's an

Returned unclaimed funds growing
In its 30-year history, the Ohio Division of Unclaimed funds has reunited 838,000 claimants with $828 million of their money, officials said yesterday.