• Life insurance companies are among the largest holders of unclaimed money. More than one-quarter of all life insurance policy benefits go unclaimed and unpaid on death of the insured, due to long dormancy periods and because family members aren't always aware a policy exists. There is no central repository or clearinghouse for unclaimed life insurance policies, and virtually no effort is made to find lost beneficiaries. Some further investigation, therefore, is often necessary to trace and recover a lost life insurance policy or unclaimed life insurance benefit.
  
  
• SEC (The US Securities and Exchange Commission) estimates 3 million stockholders are entitled to unclaimed stock worth $10 billion. Additionally, $500 million in lost stock dividends go uncashed each year. A wave of corporate mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, share spin-offs and name changes, has dramatically increased the amount of lost stock and unclaimed dividends.
  
  
• If you're a stockholder in a company that merged or was acquired, you may be entitled to collect spin-off shares, cash distributions or dividends from the restructuring, even if shares were sold long ago. (Owners of AT&T, for example, may be eligible to receive shares in nearly a dozen other companies.)
  
  
• Did a deceased relative invest in stocks or bonds? Were stock certificates lost or destroyed? In most cases they can be replaced. Even if a stock is no longer listed on an exchange do not assume it's worthless - shares may still have significant value, even if a company declared bankruptcy.
  
  
• Bank accounts may be considered abandoned if a deposit or withdrawal is not made over a period of time, generally one to five years. This may be true even in cases where CDs (Certificates of Deposit) automatically "roll-over." Have you lost track of a bank account, certificate of deposit (CD), or safe deposit box? Did you have unclaimed money at a bank that moved, changed its name, or closed?
  
  
• Don't assume that because your bank, savings and loan or credit union no longer exists that unclaimed funds are lost forever. Your dormant account may have been transferred to a new bank after a merger or acquisition.
  
  
• Even in the event the bank failed and closed its doors, you may still be entitled to collect insurance proceeds - up to $100,000 per account - from government regulators including FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) and NCUA (National Credit Union Administration). Under the terms of the Financial Institutions Reform Recovery & Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA), the government has taken custody of several hundred million dollars worth of insured accounts over the years, and currently holds over half a million unclaimed accounts.
  
  

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