Good Morning America Announces Unclaimed Child Support Money Available
Unclaimed money comes from many sources, and unclaimed child support is just the latest little pot of gold we’ve discovered at “Good Morning America” in our quest to “Show You the Money.”
Actually, unclaimed child support may be a big pot.
It’s hard to quantify because unclaimed child support is managed at the state level in some places and at the county level in others, but, by some accounts, there may be as much as $750 million out there, waiting for American children.
Tami Schwarz of Ohio got more than $31,821 in uncollected child support from her ex-husband.
You could too.
Here’s how.
The method is the same as finding any other unclaimed money.
Go to https://www.cashunclaimed.com.
Type in your own name, as the custodial parent. If that fails, try your children’s names. Still no luck? If the other parent lives in yet another state, click on that state and search there.
There’s also another nifty trick you can try.
This comes courtesy of Mary Pitman, author of “The Little Book of Missing Money,” who first alerted me to the existence of unclaimed child support funds.
You should know about one last wrinkle that could be the difference between finding the unclaimed child support you are owed, or letting it languish.
Sometimes localities are not required to turn over unclaimed child support to the state’s main unclaimed property office for a couple of years.
In that case, it’s a good idea to do a simple Web search using the name of the state and the term “unclaimed child support.”
Pitman also recommends searching the terms “undistributed child support,” and “undistributable child support.”
That search will often bring up county or state agencies that are holding unclaimed child support.
