(Part 1 of 2)

According to MO State Treasurer Sarah Steelman, Missouri unclaimed money recently grew to the huge sum of 400 million dollars. This mountain of money will almost certainly grow, because as with most states, MO takes in more unclaimed money each year than they return to Missourians. Among the number of reasons why these monies remain unclaimed, is the fact that the majority of residents are unaware of unclaimed money, and the few that are don't know the proper way to search.

As we see MO unclaimed money rolls approaching a half of a billion dollars, 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 safe deposit boxes, certificates of deposit, abandoned bank accounts, life insurance policies, forgotten stocks, and checks that have not been cashed.

While there is no time limit on claiming missing money, MO will only guarantee that they'll hold items from safe deposit boxes for 1 year (though they do occassionally hold on to them for longer). According to the MO State Treasurer's web site, this is how they deal with 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) safe deposit boxes, it is important to get started on your search quickly if your items have a sentimental value to them, but at least you'll get the cash if they sell your items. It's lucky for most of us, most of the money doesn't come from these auctions.

Whether you are a current or former MO resident, or in some cases, have not ever resided in MO at all, the odds of finding lost money that is belongs to you, are in your favor. And the great thing about cash from unclaimed money is the fact that the money already rightfully belongs to people. This means that there are no game playing or risk taking involved. The main thing keeping missing cash from turning in to found money, for most residents, is their knowledge about how to search, and where to search.

(to be continued)

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