(Part 1 of 2)

The state of California’s unclaimed money program takes in roughly $300 million each year. Why does it matter to you? Well, if you or anyone you know is or ever was a resident of the Golden State (or ever had any type of business dealings, whether you knew it or not), part of that big heap of California missing money could easily be yours!

Under the CA unclaimed property law, missing money like forgotten savings and checking accounts, cash and stock dividends, mineral deposits, uncashed checks and money orders, state of California unclaimed tax refunds, salary checks, gift certificates, and other assets are handed over to the Treasury Department if their owners don’t come for them within a certain time period. This ‘dormancy period’ varies from state to state, but in California it’s 3 years. These lost assets then head to the California unclaimed property div, where they sit in the state’s general fund until they are returned to the rightful owners. This is where state employees in-charge of the California unclaimed cash were criticized recently. It appears that they were all to happy to track down and take hold of the lost funds from the establishments holding on to them but but were less than enthusiastic about contacting the actual owners in the California unclaimed funds list.

One of the main reasons for the inability of government to return forgotten cash to its owners, according to the government, is that they can’t be located. The issue is, who would think that people like Jennifer Lopez, Victoria Beckham, Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler, Angelina Jolie ,Marlon Brando, Keanu Reeves, ZsaZsa Gabor and Gerri Halliwell would be hard to find? Their names and the names of a number of other famous people are just some of the names in the California missing money database but they haven’t been contacted by the employees at the California Unclaimed Funds Division. They are all owed checks for forgotten funds by California amounting from hundreds to the thousands in Ms. Jolie’s case. This just shows California state employees’ interest in keeping this money in the general fund for use in balancing the budget deficit for as long as they can. In fact, there was recently a ruling by a federal judge on CA abandoned cash, saying that the state was not trying hard enough to return it to its rightful owners and for a while halted the ability of the state to seize it until a new policy of reuniting it with the rightful owners was enacted.

(to be continued)

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Winning lottery ticket still unclaimed (Elk Grove Times)
A winning lottery ticket at an Elk Grove Village gas station remains unclaimed, leaving the potentially lucky winner a mystery.

Money Still Available From Unclaimed Stimulus Checks (KSLA-TV Shreveport)
SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) – There’s money up for grabs, as IRS says some people still haven’t claimed their economic stimulus checks from earlier this year.

Offbeat News (The West Australian)
Two unclaimed designer bridesmaid’s dresses that failed to arrive by post for a wedding are among items to be auctioned this weekend in Melbourne.