Money Lost and Found – Show Me The Money! - Revisited
I originally posted this blog article on 5/23/13. However, I just saw a new "Pre-Tax Season" Posting on Yahoo at http://finance.yahoo.com/news/celebrities-aren-t-the-only-ones-leaving-unclaimed-cash-on-the-table-164350769.html, so while I am behind on my blogging due to home improvement time constraints, I thought a little freshen up on a really useful blog. Some old and some new as follows:
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been starting to tell
you that following a divorce you have many reasons to revise or create an
Estate Plan. I have glossed over
the basic likely components of an Estate Plan, and once again, an Estate Plan
is generally composed of a Will, a Trust, Powers of Attorney and an Advanced
Healthcare Directive. I want to
take a break from the law and give you some tools to find what has been lost.
Usually a few times a year, frequently before the
holidays or tax season, you hear a news story about how the government has
billions of dollars that no one has claimed. From time to time I go to a number of websites and look
under the names of family and friends only to find that there is money out
there that can’t find them.
Sometimes it is pennies, and other times, thousands of dollars. I found
several hundred dollars of a rental deposit for my brother, but I also found
several thousand dollars of stock and dividends for my wife, from her deceased
father’s last long term job, because her father did not have a will. Probate can be a long and painful
process, but it only took us several months to organize and present all the
birth, death, marriage and address information to verify the claim, but by the
time we were done, my wife thought it was OK to be married to a lawyer
sometimes. Trying to be a good
lawyer, estate planning, divorce or otherwise, I want to help people make and
preserve money.
Most recently, I saw an article online,
$58 billion unclaimed: Is some of it yours? @CNNMoney January 27, 2013, citing several links to help you find
money or property help by the government.
- State-held unclaimed property: Visit NAUPA's unclaimed.org for a map with links to each state's program.
- Life insurance: For benefits not held by the state, check the insurer's site directly. For example, MetLife has an online search.
- Pensions: For Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. benefits, visit the agency's online search directory.
- U.S. savings bonds: More than 45 million matured savings bonds, worth nearly $16 billion, remain unredeemed, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. To search the database, visit treasuryhunt.gov.
- Tax refunds: In 2011, the Internal Revenue Service said it had $153.3 million in tax refund checks that were undeliverable. To make sure you've received your checks, visit the IRS's Where's my refund? tool.
From the new Yahoo posting - The best place to start looking
for unclaimed money in your name is through the national database, MissingMoney.com, which lets you search
by state for free and has been endorsed by NAUPA. You can also contact your
state’s unclaimed property office directly. The good news is that, unlike
federal tax refunds, most claims can be filed in perpetuity, even heirs of
people who left cash behind can file claims to recover it. But be sure to check
your state's laws, which can vary based on the type of property and how long
it's been unclaimed.
From my point of view, the moral of this story is
that a good Estate Plan has everything included and nothing should be lost to you
or your family. My Estate Planning
process causes my clients to review their records, dredge their memory and
organize their thoughts. Will
everything always be included?
Probably not. However, at
the conclusion of a Divorce, you have a really good picture of what you have,
so strike while the iron is hot.
Even so, now you have a list of some resources to Show You The
Money! I would love to hear from
you that you checked out these links and were able to find some money lost to
you, your family or friends. Share
your success stories. Good luck
and happy hunting.
In the days that follow, I will give you more
reasons to create, review and revise your Estate Plan. However, if you are
interested in learning more about an Estate Plan, Wills, Trusts, Advanced
Healthcare Directives, or Divorce, Custody, Visitation, Child Support, Spousal
Support, Property Division, Modifications, Remarriage, or Pre-Nuptial
Agreements, and you live in Santa Clara County or thereabout, please contact me
at http://www.fcbegun.com/, fbegun@gmail.com or at http://www.linkedin.com for Fred Begun
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