Severance and unemployment, do they overlap? - what worked for you?

My employer is paying severance in instalments and I am not sure whether to file now. I worked as a web developer before this. I have a mortgage and need to plan. How did your state treat it?

Rules differ by state. I called the claims line and asked directly, then wrote down the answer and the date.

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 2 months ago, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.