(Editorial - Graphic Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

Everyone loves reaching into a coat that hasn’t been worn in a year and finding a folded up $5 bill. It’s a nice surprise, even if the money was yours all along. It had still been forgotten.

In Thomas, W.Va., State Treasurer Riley Moore was able to hand officials a more than $63,000 surprise earlier this month — an unclaimed property check that seems to have been the result of several stale-dated checks that had gone uncashed.

“It’s always great to return these funds to our small municipalities,” Moore said. “This is the citizens’ money, and in communities like Thomas, $63,000 can go a long way to fund the city’s needs.”

But unclaimed property does not get returned only to the big guys. Individuals’ money may not add up to quite the amount received by Thomas, but estimates suggest nationwide approximately 10 percent of individuals have unclaimed property just waiting for them in government coffers.

“This is your money, and we want to get it back to you,” Moore said.

How can you find out whether there is any money waiting for you? Each year, newspapers across the state publish special inserts listing unclaimed property as detailed by the state. Moore’s office has a tool available online at wvtreasury.com, if you have some idea what you should be typing into the search field. Unclaimed property can be many things, including unpaid life insurance benefits, forgotten bank accounts, unused rebate cards, uncashed paychecks, stocks or even safe deposit box contents.

Don’t leave money behind, folks. Check the insert — it is included in The News and Sentinel each fall. Or try searching the state treasurer’s website.

You never know.