Kansas State Treasurer Dennis McKinney was in Overland Park on Friday to return a very large amount of money to the Brown/Cordry family of Olathe. McKinney returned to Gail Brown a check in the amount of $78,666.22 worth of unclaimed property. Much of the unclaimed assets were from retirement accounts for Gail's mother who moved into a nursing facility.
"My office began investigating the property and after about five weeks was able to locate Gail," McKinney explained. "It is not always easy to track down the rightful owners of property sometimes generations later. I commend the staff for their terrific service to Kansans," said McKinney.
The Unclaimed Property Division was founded under the Unclaimed Property Act of 1979. Under then State Treasurer Joan Finney the Unclaimed Property division began collecting and returning Kansans unclaimed property and this division has continued under six subsequent State Treasurer's administrations.
The Kansas Unclaimed Property Department has just eight full-time staff members that work to look for and return unclaimed money and safe deposit boxes. Since inception more than $132 million has been returned to owners and rightful heirs. The biggest amount returned to one owner was $346,922.92 in 2007. It was 1997 when the State Treasurer's office first began offering the option to search for unclaimed property on the web. In 2005 the option to claim property online became available.
"Kansans value private property rights, and as custodian of this unclaimed property we take the responsibility to reunite people with their assets very seriously," said McKinney. "Our staff works hard to return as much unclaimed property as possible," McKinney explained.
Each year thousands of people lose track of their bank accounts, cash, stocks, bonds, refunds, royalties, safe deposit boxes and other property. People move and sometimes forget to furnish their bank, broker, employer, utility or insurance company with a forwarding address. It is the Treasurer's responsibility to locate the rightful owners and heirs to the over $209 million in unclaimed assets and safe deposit box contents that are currently being held by the State of Kansas.
Making a claim is free and easy. There are no fees involved in searching for or claiming cash and property. To search, a last name is required and a first name is recommended.
To search for unclaimed property please call the State Treasurer's office at 1-800-432-0386 or visit www.KansasCash.com.
