(Part 2 of 2)

The reasons unclaimed funds are often hard to find are numerous, but among the more common are the lack of knowledge on the part of the searcher on which sites to use and how often they should search.

There are quire a few different types of property that can become abandoned and classified "unclaimed", but the state treasurer's web site names the following as some of the more common: Dividends, Paid-up Life Insurance Policies, Money Orders, Demutualization Proceeds, Deposits, Stocks, Certificates of Deposit, Mutual Funds, Bonds, Refunds, Gift Certificates, Payroll, Wages, Commissions, Salary, Death Benefits, Uncashed Checks, Insurance Payments. Each type of account can only be classified as "unclaimed" (and passed along to the state) after it has seen no activity for a certain time period of time, which is unique for each type. These dormancy periods are usually between 1 and 5 years in New Hampshire, depending on the property type.

Due to the fact that each account type has its own period of dormancy, a person might search for money owed to them on a particular day, when their property hasn't been turned over to the state, so the state will have no record of it. Many times, people give up after that, not realizing that their assets might be turned over to the state the following year, or even a few years down the road. Additionally, the the state's own records have to be manually updated by a state employee, so the accuracy of the records is questionable, because there is not someone adding listings in real time.

All of those issues with when a claim actually gets added in to the the state's own records will not matter if a resident does not have any idea where to search. Most people just search any website that provides a search box, but hardly any of these sites have any accurate listings. The majority of the "databases" are not real. Choosing an unclaimed money website to run your searches from a primary concern. Just as important is learning the search strategies used by professionals in the forgotten funds field, and putting them to work in your own searches.

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State gives owners of
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This week, I'm answering questions from readers, because there's an unclaimed money question that keeps coming up again and again. That tells me there's a need, so here goes. Here are two samples of the questions I've gotten:

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