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Have you ever wondered if you had a long lost relative who passed on but left you a fortune? Or perhaps you have forgotten about a relative who may have started a bank account for you when you were a child.

There is a great deal of lost or "unclaimed" money out there in the United States and Canada, and likely most other countries. I have seen quotes online saying things like, 9 out of 10 people are entitled to some amount of lost money or on another website "There is over 100 million dollars in unclaimed money in the various state government offices".

The Bank of Canada, which only looks after bank acounts, had over 320 million dollars from 938,000 bank accounts that were transferred there from banks after 10 years of inactivity on the account. This does not include other property that may be out there like stocks and bonds and such.

It appears that every state has its own UCP (Unclaimed Property Office). You would need to visit or contact each one individually in each state that you lived in, or in each state where someone who may have left you something lived in, to find out if they had any of your lost money.

It also seems that the burden of proof is on the one making the claim to establish him or herself as the person eligible to claim this lost money.

Don't worry however, because there are a number of web sites out there that offer to help you find the information you need, if you think that you may have a hidden fortune waiting for you somewhere.

Here is a partial list of sites I found, I do not endorse any particular one. As always the consumer needs to be diligent in protecting themselves.

LostMoney.com is a free site, but they ask you to pay 10% of whatever you recover to a charity of your choice. They say they will help with the forms to help you get your money back.

MissingMoney.com is a database of governmental unclaimed property records. Officially endorsed by NAUPA, the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators. Please note: Some states and provinces do not currently list all of the unclaimed property in their custody, but they do supply a list of all the offices for you to contact.

FoundMoney.com also says "free search", but on the next page they tell you you have to buy a membership at $24.95 for 1 year. I did the free search on this site and it brougt up 4 possible options of money attached to my name, but then I had to pay to find out if the money was mine.

Finally there's NetDetective.com. This is more than a site to find lost money, but if you go to their home page and go the resources center, they have a data base that lists over 27 million people who have unclaimed property in their names. Their fee is $29.00 for 3 yr plus all the extra's that come with the site.

So there you have it. If you believe that dear Aunt Alice remembered you in her will, and not her cat Mitsy, then perhaps you have some lost money sitting in a UCP office somewhere.