Kansas Unclaimed Money Tops $200 Million
If the Midwest is America's breadbasket, it's might
mostly be because of Kansas, who's Sumner County
is known as The Wheat Capital of the World. According
to recent reports, the Kansas State Treasury's Unclaimed
Property Division has become a basket for another
vital commodity. Not edible, but definitely more
sought after- American currency in the form of Kansas
unclaimed money.
Over $20 million in Kansas unclaimed property is
collected by the state each year. These funds come
from abandoned financial assets turned over by banks,
insurance companies and other financial entities
who are by law required to hand them over to the
state after 3-5 years depending on the item. Lost
assets come from old checking accounts, abandoned
savings accounts, bonds, dividends,
old paychecks, child support payments, alimony payments,
and other similar funds whose owners have somehow
lost track of or inherited without their knowing
it.
Lynn Jenkins, Kansas State Treasurer, tries to reunite
as much of the unclaimed money in Kansas to her
state's residents through outreach programs for
owners of the Kansas unclaimed funds. Her office
sets-up booths in public places like shopping malls
and the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson. An average
of $700,000 is handed-out yearly in the fair to
mostly surprised owners of the lost money. "We
always look forward to attending the fair,"
says Jenkins in a recent press release. "It
gives us an opportunity to meet fellow Kansans and
for them to search our records for their lost or
forgotten cash and property." "As always,
we were very impressed with the fair organizers
and the city of Hutchinson," she adds. "The
State Fair is a good old fashioned family tradition
and part of what makes our state so great."
According to the National Association of Unclaimed
Property Administrators (NAUPA), Treasury Departments
in each of the 50 states are holding-on to over
$35 billion in unclaimed assets, belonging to American
citizens. Unclaimed property outreach programs like
the one Kansas State Treasurer Jenkins promotes
are only slightly making-up for the lack of a centralized
government database for unclaimed assets. Approximately
928,303 owners of roughly $200 million unclaimed
money in Kansas are still unaccounted for though,
and the Kansas Unclaimed Property Division of the
Treasury Department will hold on to the KS unclaimed
money until residents and other citizens nationwide
come to claim it.
Fortunately, people don't have to wait for the Kansas
State Fair to come around in order to check if they
are owed Kansas unclaimed funds. The individual
states maintain databases for unclaimed money owners
now and an unclaimed money search can be done anywhere
there's an Internet connection. So, if you need
extra funds ASAP, you can actually do an online
search right now from where you are. The tricky
part is doing a search for unclaimed money in several
state databases (a good idea for those who've lived
in various states). A centralized database for national
unclaimed money does not exist, so it's quite easy
to go on an online wild goose chase if you don't
know where and how to look.
