By the time you finish reading this you will be able to find you and your family hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. This money is not loans or scams, it is money owed to them. It takes no real work or divulging personal information on questionable sites. The money is unclaimed money owed to you and your family.

I have written many articles on unclaimed money and foolishly never took my own advice. In researching for my last article I found $400 owed to my mother, $1500 owed to 2 colleagues and $700 owed to my grandmother. No joke.

So the question is, of course, how and where did I find this money? I would like to say there is a big secret and hidden treasure I am going to divulge. Unfortunately, I have no such secrets of the universe to share. It is a simple search on an awesome site.

I searched a database that records all unclaimed money from all 50 states and even some federal databases.

In case you are unfamiliar with unclaimed money, it is money that has been sent to the government to hold for the rightful owner, by institutions or companies that could not reach the rightful owners. For example: old bank accounts, savings bonds, inheritance, royalties, dividends, or uncashed checks.

Doesnt seem like this would happen too often right? Wrong. There is over $20 BILLION in unclaimed money owed to millions of people. Oprah Winfrey did a show on unclaimed money and she stated as many as 8 out of 9 Americans have unclaimed money. That is a whole lot of families that are owed money!

I have tried many databases to search for unclaimed money. All you have to do is type in your name or family and friends names and click search. It will give you the results. Really, it is that simple. BUT, there is a BIG BUT, I have searched some databases that did not show me all the money owed.

Why would this happen? It would happen because it depends on the quality of the database you are searching.

Here is what a QUALITY database will have:

- Frequent Updates
New unclaimed money accounts are turned over to the government constantly. Make sure the database you search updates frequently so that you have the most up to date search.

- Searches of ALL states and federal databases
Depending on the type of account from which the unclaimed money originated, the account may be submitted to one of over 54 databases. For example, if it is a savings bond with your parents address from 20 years ago as the address on record. This may not be found under a search of only your states database.

- Name Variation Searches
Lets say your name is William B Johnson. The unclaimed money may be reported under W B Johnson, Bill Johnson, W Johnson, etc. There are good databases that search name variations to ensure no accounts are overlooked that may belong to you.

There is no restriction on whose name you can search. It does help to know where they have lived so that you can weed out accounts that may have the same name but our not actually the person you are looking for.

The average claim amount is close to $1,000.00. Odds are you or some of your close family members and friends have money waiting to be claimed. I was foolish not to take my own advice and search the database for unclaimed money. Now that you know how, do not make the same mistake. Search for you and your familys unclaimed money today.