NBC Dateline aired an episode last night about a free way to find money or properties that might be yours and you don't even know it!

How is this "free money" possible? Turns out, you may have an old unclaimed paycheck, an old relative's property that was willed to you, unclaimed dividends, or even an inheritance. If the trust or company had no way of contacting you, which could happen if you moved and had your name changed due to marriage, by law, they are required to turn these funds over to the state in which they have on record that you last lived in.

Just for the heck of it, I did a search with my last name. Nothing came up for me, but there was a hit for my mother. Two entries. Both were for some unclaimed dividends from an old insurance policy that she had forgotten about. She's estimating that they're worth around $200. Not too bad for a thirty second search, right? The website below has further information on the NBC article. It will direct you to a site where you can find your state's website.

Update: About one week after publishing this article, my mom received her check from the state that was worth $364 and some change from unclaimed dividends! It took less than 30 seconds to find this unclaimed money, so I'd urge you to try this today.

After I found out that my mother was owed some money, all we had to do was fill out the form and submit it. We were also instructed to print out a form, have it notarized and delivered to the State's Treasury Department by next month. Light lifting for a forgotten $200.

Try doing a search for your last name in your current state and all the other locations that you've lived. Also try using your maiden name. I also searched some family members names and found that my Grandmother had some State Bonds available, but the values were under $25. Not worth the time and effort.

Here is the MSNBC Website with further details!

You might be rich! Here's how to find out.