Wonder if you have unclaimed assets? Find out, make a claim

Wondering whether your state might be holding valuable assets belonging to you that you weren't even aware of?

It's easy to get an answer and to make a claim.

Every U.S. state has established a program, usually within the state treasurer's office, to facilitate the return of unclaimed property to its rightful owners.

Generally, the property is listed in databases that are accessible online. Instructions for making a claim vary from state to state; in some cases that can be done online, while in other cases applications must be printed out and mailed to the state, possibly after being notarized.

States do not charge a fee for processing claims and returning property.

A national database - accessible at http://missingmoney.com/ - has been established by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators. The association's website also provides contact information for the unclaimed property programs in every state and some Canadian provinces via this link: http://www.unclaimed.org/