(Part 1 of 2)

According to State Treasurer Sarah Steelman, Missouri unclaimed money has swelled to the massive amount of $400 million. This pile of money will almost certainly get larger, because like in most states, MO takes in more unclaimed money each year than is returned to the citizens. Among the number of reasons why these funds continue to go unclaimed, is the fact that most residents aren't aware of unclaimed money, and those that are aware don't know the correct way to track down these properties.

As we see MO unclaimed money numbers approaching a half of $1 billion, the "Show Me State" might want to change its nickname to the "Show Me The Money State". So where does all that money come from? There are quite a number of different sources for unclaimed money, a few of the most common are abandoned bank accounts, safe deposit boxes, checks that have not been cashed, certificates of deposit, forgotten stocks, and life insurance policies.

While there isn't a time limit on claiming missing money, MO will only guarantee that they'll hold on to items from safe deposit boxes for 1 year (though they do sometimes hold on to them for longer). According to the MO State Treasurer's web site, this is how they handle these items: "Although State Treasurer Steelman would like to keep the contents of safe deposit boxes until an owner or heir is identified, the unclaimed property vault used to store non-monetary items of value (jewelry, coins, etc.) reaches capacity every couple of years. When the vault is full, the Unclaimed Property Division hosts an auction, and the proceeds generated from the sale of items from safe deposit boxes is recorded in the name of the safe deposit box owner. If owners or heirs are identified, they receive the entire proceeds from the sale of the items."

It's clear that for those people who use or have used a safe deposit box, it's important to quickly get your search started if the items have a sentimental value to them, but at least you will get the cash if they sell your items. Luckily for the majority of us, most of the money doesn't come from unclaimed property auctions.

(to be continued)

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