Unclaimed Funds Continue to Increase

Unclaimed money has been a major issue of concern for the U.S. government recently. Many policies, websites, and programs have been launched to make sure none of the unclaimed funds keep lying unclaimed. Still, they are not able to reach the desired results as the recent statistics still report a continuous increase in the amount of unclaimed money. In fact, these statistics have reached its all time high. As per the amount calculated recently, $50 billion is still lying with the states, along with the federal agencies, waiting for their rightful owners.
This amount present with the states has been formed from un-cashed payroll checks and neglected bank accounts that are no more in use. But the major contribution made to the unclaimed funds come from the lost insurance policies of the deceased owners. Experts state that the main reason behind the large number of lost and wasted policies is the lack of knowledge about it amongst the family members and relatives of the deceased person. Some people are even unaware of the fact that there is no time limit for claiming any unclaimed money or property lying in their name.
The federal agencies, along with the state governments, are making severe efforts to overcome this problem by continuously gathering and reuniting the owners of lost assets and funds. The federal agencies also take care of the management of unclaimed assets and properties that include stocks and bonds, bank accounts, un-cashed checks, life insurance policies, gold coins, and the security box contents lying unclaimed with any financial institution from more than a year.
The state agencies managing these properties, assets and funds state that the main reason behind them remaining unclaimed is the change of name, address, city or county of the rightful owner. Another main reason is due to their death in the case when family members have no information regarding the death or the property and money left behind by them. Apart from some of these obvious reasons, sometimes people don’t even show interest in becoming the owner of the unclaimed money lying in their name and so the money remains unclaimed adding onto its increasing rate.
The efforts made by the state and federal agencies can be seen in the involvement of media for the purpose. Especially in Texas, media channels and newspapers were used in several cases of unclaimed properties for searching the right owners. This medium is not only used for locating the owners but also to spread awareness amongst the people regarding it.
Apart from media, several programs are also being held to spread awareness as well as to re-unite owners. Agencies find educating people about the need to claim or search any unclaimed property in their name as the best way of attracting them to do so. Some states have even started organizing fairs for the purpose that educate people regarding unclaimed money on a walk-in-basis and the associated property, money, asset, or fund is handed over to the rightful owner on the spot. For more information log on http://www.cashunclaimed.com