Did you know the treasurer’s office holds nearly $1 billion worth of unclaimed property for Missourians” Each year financial institutions, businesses, government agencies and other organizations turn over millions of dollars in cash and the contents of nearly 1,000 safe deposit boxes to the treasurer’s office. These groups are required to turn over unclaimed property after there has been no documented transaction or contact with the owner for five years.
One in 10 Missourians has unclaimed property, and the average return is $300. In the the 16th Senate District, there is $9,011,608.33 worth of property belonging to approximately 87,980 account owners. The treasurer’s goal is to turn as much of this property to the account owners or proper heirs as possible. As the treasurer’s office holds unclaimed property in perpetuity until a proper account owner can be located, you or a family member could have unclaimed property from years and even decades ago.
It is a simple process to check to see if you, or any of your family members have unclaimed property. The list is avaialbe, year-round online at https://treasurer.mo.gov/UnclaimedProperty/Main.aspx. A local list will also be published in area newspapers in June. Those with unclaimed property can file a claim online or request a paper claim be mailed by visiting www.ShowMeMoney.com. Claims can also be submitted to the treasurer’s office at PO Box 1004, Jefferson City, MO 65102-1004.
Unclaimed Property can be donated to 20 different charitable organizations operating in Missouri. The process of donating unclaimed property can be completed online in most cases. Visit, https://treasurer.mo.gov/UnclaimedProperty/Donate.aspx for more information.
As always, I encourage my constituents to contact me throughout the year with comments, questions or suggestions by calling my office at (573) 751-5713. To find more information about the bills I sponsor, visit www.senate.mo.gov/brown. Thank you for reading this and for your participation in state government.