Our unclaimed property division at the Kansas State Treasurer’s office takes in millions of dollars in new
property a year. Each piece of property has a story, and it is up to us to use the details we have to help find out who it belongs to. Sometimes, though, that story takes a lot more work to figure out. Money and property can come to us with no name, address, or other important details making it nearly impossible to return the property to the rightful owner. We love it when we can connect the dots and get someone’s property returned to them, whether big or small.

In a case we’ve been working on for the past year, a property came to our office with little identifying
information to help us get it back to its rightful owner.

Last month we received a call from a woman who had been searching for the sale proceeds from her father’s home. It had gone to auction after he passed away, and the money never made it back to her or her brother, both heirs of their father’s estate.

Our unclaimed property division began their skilled work at checking the documentation she had against
county records, last known addresses, and other necessary identifying information.

After a diligent effort on their part, they found the match, and the woman and her brother were successfully reunited with the over $50,000 in cash from the sale of their late father’s home.

Both siblings were very grateful for the work done on their behalf and delighted to finally have the mystery of the missing money solved.

We have over $300-million in unclaimed property still waiting to be claimed and want to encourage Kansans to take a minute to check our website, www.Kansascash.com, and see if any of it belongs to them. Remember, we never charge for searches or returning unclaimed property, so it’s important to be wary of those who do. We’ve returned a record amount to Kansans for the past two years in a row, and would love to have more and more success stories like this one in the year ahead.

Jake LaTurner is the Kansas State Treasurer.