My daughter is an estate attorney and has referred to the unclaimed funds sites for clients. Ironically, she and her husband found themselves on one. The process was very straightforward- just follow the directions on the website. Usually you can print the forms. Some states have their own website. I know that you will probably need your Dad's social security number.

DH found our younger son on New York's. It was over $1000, so he took us all out to dinner at a really posh place the next time he came home and blew it on the dinner.

I found a friend's name on the state she had lived in. It was a few hundred dollars from a sale of their house.

I found a cousin on the NYS one. She said it was a really small amount. Don't know how they didn't find her if they had looked. She lived with her parents (who still live at the same address with the same phone #) until getting married.

Several years ago I found my "maiden name" on the California unclaimed funds list. There were two amounts, one very small, maybe $5., and one larger one for about $175. The address they had for me was my last "single" apartment" before marriage dating back to 1972.

I had a difficult time in collecting in that all I could find to prove I was that person was a long ago circa 1967 U.S. Passport, thankfully still in my possession, which gave both my then maiden name and the exact address the unclaimed funds were originally mailed to. In spite of sending this, plus copies of some more recent documents changing my last name by marriage, the lady from the Cal government department didn't seem to be satisfied til I got really annoyed during our telephone conversation, me saying that I thought my possession of the U.S. Passport should be sufficient. In any event I received my check for the full amount within 10 days. Although I didn't mention it to her, I had as a back-up an old envelope postmarked from 1966 for a wedding shower for a former roommate which likewise had my then name & address

A month ago, my stepson got $80+ dollar check and I got a check for $100 from the forms we filled out on "Showmemoney".

"MissingMoney.com" will take you to all the individual state sites. Each is different as to what to do, basically file your claim. Dumb Illinois was a hassle. I should try to re-open a claim?

Mine was over $700. The only stumbling block was having to prove I lived at that NJ address 30 years ago. I forget the details, but a company was willing to state that it was in fact my address, and that statement released the money to me. Relatives of mine have claimed smaller amounts on their state sites. Definitely worth doing.

Good project for a person who has difficulty finding employment but is nevertheless a capable person is to look up such unclaimed amount lists, then seek the owners and offer to help them find it for, I'd suggest, a modest percentage.

Here, unclaimed amounts in banks (federally regulated) are sent to the government/Bank of Canada after 10 years and one can collect from them, with adequate proof offered - find a list in the Canada Gazette at your local (or probably central) library.

ole joyful

OJ, in Ohio where I am investigating for info regarding my Dad's funds the "searchers" have to be registered with the state and are only allowed to collect 10% of the amount recovered. It may be different in other states/countries. Satine

Unscrupulous 'estate finders' can set their own fees when they find estates that a person can't locate on his or her own.

I ran into such a person while helping an adult adoptee trace her birthmother. These people often pay bribes to obtain hidden information. (Access to IRS records, for instance) The man wanted 50% of an estate to help the adoptee find her mother. She didn't want the money, but he was the only source for the information she needed to identify her mother. Catholic Charities had information on file from thirty years before, but refused to help. This birthmother had been coerced into surrendering her baby and had provided for her daughter in her will.

I found my mother on the Nevada list six times for a total amount of about $435. I began the process but it seems more trouble than it's worth for a few hundred dollars. I have to send in the death certificate, get notarized affidavits among other things. I gave up.

All states have unclaimed property, worth looking for. The search is free, and claiming it is free. Never pay anyone a fee for this. Never.

Don't let anyone con you into paying a fee, or percantage, to get your own money! Go to the State's Treasury "unclaimed property" website and fill out the form.

Yes, I filled out the form at the state's treasury site, then got a letter listing all the hoops I had to jump through to get the $. I may do it eventually, but it's going to time and running around getting affidavits, etc. Seems more trouble than it worth to get my share of roughly $110.

Here is a site that lets you check many states for unclaimed funds instead of just one state.

Here is a link that might be useful: Missing Money Free

MissingMoney.com (mentioned previously twice) has links to EVERY states unclaimed property web site. Each one displays the data differently, what it is, and what you must do to claim it. Look for your ancestors, just in case? If it takes 4 hrs to prepare a claim for $100, that's probably more than you make at work. If it's not thousands, people are lazy (greedy) and forget it.

I rechecked my name at the California unclaimed funds site &was surprised to see to see it pop up again. For some reason Paypal turned over $4.00 in my name to the State Treasurer. Now unlike my previous "haul" a few years back of close to $180, 4 dollars isn't worth my time.