Every month our firm completes an unclaimed property search for our clients. It’s always gratifying to hear from our clients after they’ve received our notification that an extra $100 is out there waiting on them.
Unclaimed property includes any accounts, stocks, uncashed dividends, payroll checks, refunds, unredeemed money orders, insurance payments, CDs, overpayments, mineral royalty payments, etc., that have had no activity or contact for one year or longer.
The State of Kansas is currently holding more than $350 million belonging to Kansans as reported by the Kansas State Treasurer, Jake LaTurner. While that seems like a stunning amount, the State of Missouri is holding $988 million in unclaimed property as reported by the Office of Missouri State Treasurer.
The process of searching for unclaimed property is actually very simple. Each state has an unclaimed property program typically operated by the State Treasurer.
The goal of the program is to return the unclaimed property to consumers because unclaimed property laws exist to protect consumers by ensuring money owed to them is returned rather than remaining permanently with financial institutions, business associations, governments and other entities.
State of Kansas: https://kansascash.ks.gov/up_search.php
State of Missouri: https://treasurer.mo.gov/UnclaimedProperty/Main.aspx
While searching for unclaimed property, be sure to consider the following:
There are also a few sites that may let you search more than one state at a time, depending on your state’s participation, although typically searching locally is the most efficient way to locate assets. Other websites that may be helpful in searching are:
http://www.missingmoney.com
https://www.unclaimed.org
While unclaimed property is a great place to start, there are certain assets that may not be reported to your State Treasurer’s unclaimed property program. So while you’re searching, it may be worthwhile to look into these sources for unclaimed funds as well:
Happy Searching!
Kristen Buchman is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and a member of the Financial Planning Association of Greater Kansas City.
This article was originally published in the Kansas City Star. https://www.kansascity.com/news/business/personal-finance/article226314835.html#storylink=cpy
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