(Part 2 of 2)

One of the main reasons for the inability of government to return forgotten money to its owners, according to the government, is that they cannot be located. The problem is, who would think that people like Angelina Jolie, ZsaZsa Gabor, Gerri Halliwell, Victoria Beckham, Keanu Reeves, Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler, Marlon Brando and Jennifer Lopez could be hard to find? Those names and the names of a number of other celebrities are just some of the names in the CA missing money list and yet they have not heard from the officials at the California Unclaimed Funds Division. They are all owed checks for unclaimed money by CA amounting from hundreds to the thousands in Ms. Jolie’s case. This just shows CA state officials’ interest in keeping this money in the general fund for them to balance the budget deficits for as long as they can. In fact, there was a recent ruling by a judge on CA abandoned assets, stating that the state was not making enough of an effort to locate the 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 has been adopted.

The total amount of unclaimed money in CA averages $5 billion annually – imagine the amount of interest that generates for the state! Sacramento attorney Bill Palmer who has represented many cases involving California unclaimed property, said the state’s department was created to be a lost and found for California residents. Instead, it was turned into a profit earning ‘business’ in recent years.

The ban on the seizure of property by CA has since been lifted and the new CA State Controller, John Chiang, is making extra efforts in the form of sweeping reforms in improving how his office deals with California unclaimed money. There’s still a great need though for Californians and Americans in all states across the U.S. to be informed about the presence of these monies and on how to do a thorough search for them and take back what belongs to them.

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UNCLAIMED MONEY: Locals owed over $500,000 (The Courier)
THE STATE Revenue Office wants to reunite Ballarat residents with more than $500,000 in unclaimed money.

Strangers offer help to the unclaimed (WOOD TV 8 Grand Rapids)
The calls started Monday, after a Target 8 investigation on the unclaimed. Many want to raise money to move Ronald Ditmar’s body from the Rockford Cemetery — where he was buried last month without ceremony — to a spot next to his parents.

Palonek Reminds Kansans To Claim Their Lost Or Forgotten Cash – PRLog (free press release)
Many unclaimed items do not have to be reported as unclaimed for 5-25 years, however, cash, stocks and bonds and safe deposit boxes must be reported unclaimed on an annual basis, says Palonek, founder of a unclaimed money and asset search service …

Georgia holds millions in unclaimed money – Chattanooga Times Free Press
ATLANTA — The state of Georgia is holding on to nearly $985 million that rightfully belongs to state departments and taxpayers, according to the Georgia Department of Revenue. ”In these tough economic times, Georgians cannot afford to just let …

Old tax refunds remain unclaimed – Leaf Chronicle
WASHINGTON —Here’s something you don’t hear every day: The Internal Revenue Service wants to give some of you money. The agency issued a notice Tuesday saying about 22,200 Tennesseans will lose income tax refunds with a median estimated value of …