Unclaimed funds have been a persistent concern in many countries, institutions, and generations. Across the United States alone, an estimated 4,000,000,000 USD is returned to beneficiaries annually.[i] The existence of a significant volume of unclaimed funds in many countries can be significantly attributed to ignorance of unclaimed entitlements, holding institutions, and claim procedures. Many factors like legislation, media, dispute resolution mechanisms, policies, private investigators, and writers, have contributed to the erosion of such ignorance. In this work, I will be considering the role of legislation, media, and dispute resolution mechanisms in the disbursement of unclaimed funds.
[i] National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, https://unclaimed.org/search/ Accessed 14 March 2024