Government agencies, courts, banks, brokers, insurance companies and others are holding tens of billions of dollars in unclaimed funds. States recently collected $22.8 billion in missing money and unclaimed property, of which less than $1 billion was claimed by owners or heirs. The nation's current financial crisis is likely to result in significant increases going forward, due to the large number of foreclosures, bank closings and company bankruptcies.

Cash, assets and property are considered unclaimed in the eyes of the law when contact with the owner is lost, typically after death, a name change due to marriage or divorce, an unreported change of address, expired postal forwarding order and out-of date, incomplete or illegible records.

When owners fail to claim abandoned funds over a specified number of years known as the dormancy period, life insurance companies, banks, credit unions, stock brokers, utilities, unions, employers and others - transfer custody of unclaimed money to a government trust account under a legal doctrine known as escheat.

Here this unclaimed money awaits your claim, along with billions in unclaimed funds held by courts and government agencies themselves, including IRS income tax refunds - $110 million, US savings bonds - $15 billion, Social Security Administration benefit checks - $478 million, HUD mortgage refunds - $500 million, PBGC pension benefits - $133 million and FDIC dormant bank accounts - $200 million.

Note family members often are unaware they’re entitled to collect unclaimed cash and benefits owed deceased relatives, who passed on without leaving an updated will or complete financial records. Billions of dollars in life insurance policy benefits go unclaimed every year, for example, because no effort is made to find lost beneficiaries - it is up to heirs to notify the insurance company when a policyholder dies.