Unclaimed Property Blog

Sometimes we don’t think we have enough assets to have a will. Well, rethink that and make your will.

There are many ways in which people have assets that they are not really aware of. You may have stocks, bonds, insurance policies, 401K or Roth IRA, savings accounts and property or personal belongings of value.

Here are some do’s and don’ts about wills:

1. Do write a will. When listing out the items you have it can become obvious that you have a moderate wealth to share.

Many people do not want to talk about death, so writing a will is not something that is done prior to death. There is another way that you can protect where your assets go, read on for the information.

It is not being advised that you not make a will as there isn’t any substitute for a will. Estate planning is also needed. At this point in life if you have not taken the time for either of these needed actions, there is “payable on death” designations of savings . This is a simple way to make sure at least some of your savings are paid to your loved ones when you die.

You may not think of Virginia as a very large state, but it has a large sum of money to return to it’s residents.

During one attempt to return money, a laptop computer was brought to the lobby of Town Center of Virginia Beach and found about every sixth or seventh person had money unclaimed.

What is this money and where does it come from? There are many sources with the most common being a utility deposit not returned, a forgotten checking or savings account, a security deposit from a rental when you did not give a forwarding address, a final payroll check or even an expense reimbursement and an abandoned safe deposit box. There may be many more ways but as stated, these are the most common.

Nebraska State Treasurer Ron Ross has decided to extend the amnesty program on unclaimed property. This is the second such extension he has implemented.

Ross announced an extension of the proven highly successful 2006 Amnesty Program. This program offers amnesty from penalties and interest to Nebraska businesses that voluntarily report unclaimed property. The Nebraska Restaurant Association and the Nebraska Retail Federation had requested the extension due to their concerns that without an extension LB 173, effective November 2, 2006, would be confusing to their members.

Illinois unclaimed property is increasing. The State Treasurer want to return money to rightful owners. Continue reading and find out how much money Illinois has and how they return it.

When you see unclaimed property you may think it is actual property as in land; therefore, you would not be one of the estimated 5 million people in the state of Illinois with unclaimed property. The actual definition of property when used in unclaimed property is money and material possessions. Still not sure what that comes down to in layman’s terms? Property could be money in an abandoned bank account, the contents of a safe deposit box, uncashed final paycheck, stocks, bonds, or a utility deposit never returned to the rightful owner.

Recently GM offered some employees a $140,000 package to leave their employ. What would you do with such an offer?

This does make one consider options that you may never have dreamt of or seen before. You work with a well known company. You hear that it needs to cut jobs for its own survival. The opportunity to have $140,000 but no job, does this conjure up lots of questions or dreams?

Identity theft seems to be all around. Most Americans look at it as something we just have to deal with. Is this really true?

Upon further investigation it was discovered we needed something to compare our theft situation with. Turning to Europe seemed logical. However, determining the rate of identity theft in Europe was difficult. Per data security experts it isn’t enough of a problem to warrant a comprehensive survey.

Digging into this a little further found there was an exception; the United Kingdom (U.K.).

On Monday, May 15th, Iowa State Treasurer, Michael Fitzgerald announced a record dollar amount of unclaimed property being held by his office. The result was…”We’re overwhelmed,” he said. “Our office is being put through the paces trying to make matches for these folks.”

There is approximately $160 million worth of money and unclaimed property being held. With the tidal wave of calls and more than 11,000 web hits The Great Iowa Treasure hunt is proving to be a success.

This week there were several items returned to their rightful heir. Amongst the items were a variety of valuable sports memorabilia and war medals including a Purple Heart. Items such as these usually come from abandoned safe deposit boxes.

West Virginia is getting tougher. The State Treasurer is actively seeking owners of unclaimed property.

Each state holds unclaimed property. All have different ways to find and return the money to the rightful owner. West Virginia has decided to become more active in giving money away.

Recently, Jack Phillips of Phillips Machine Service was contacted and received $117,000 worth of cash and stock dividends.

Wondering how someone could lose $117,000? The company had some stock and the bank holding the stock certificates could not locate the company. Per state law, the stock is transferred to the state for safe keeping.

Here is something of interest. A municipal bond becomes city property per an escheat ruling. Not anything unusual on the surface; however…

It all began 20 years ago. Two municipal bonds from the City of Los Angeles are purchased. The purchase helped the city raise money for various projects. Two years ago, the city decided one of the bonds was raising too much money for its investors, so it recalled the bond; essentially buying out the investment.