Finance Wanted.

By Russ D Johnson

If the Midwest is America's breadbasket, it's might mostly be because of Kansas, who's Sumner County is known as The Wheat Capital of the World. According to recent reports, the Kansas State Treasury's Unclaimed Property Division has become a basket for another vital commodity. Not edible, but definitely more sought after- American currency in the form of Kansas unclaimed money.

Over $20 million in Kansas unclaimed property is collected by the state each year. These funds come from abandoned financial assets turned over by banks, insurance companies and other financial entities who are by law required to hand them over to the state after 3-5 years depending on the item. Lost assets come from old checking accounts, abandoned savings accounts, bonds, dividends, old paychecks, child support payments, alimony payments, and other similar funds whose owners have somehow lost track of or inherited without their knowing it.

Lynn Jenkins, Kansas State Treasurer, tries to reunite as much of the unclaimed money in Kansas to her state's residents through outreach programs for owners of the Kansas unclaimed funds. Her office sets-up booths in public places like shopping malls and the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson. An average of $700,000 is handed-out yearly in the fair to mostly surprised owners of the lost money. "We always look forward to attending the fair," says Jenkins in a recent press release. "It gives us an opportunity to meet fellow Kansans and for them to search our records for their lost or forgotten cash and property." "As always, we were very impressed with the fair organizers and the city of Hutchinson," she adds. "The State Fair is a good old fashioned family tradition and part of what makes our state so great."

According to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA), Treasury Departments in each of the 50 states are holding-on to over $35 billion in unclaimed assets, belonging to American citizens. Unclaimed property outreach programs like the one Kansas State Treasurer Jenkins promotes are only slightly making-up for the lack of a centralized government database for unclaimed assets. Approximately 928,303 owners of roughly $200 million unclaimed money in Kansas are still unaccounted for though, and the Kansas Unclaimed Property Division of the Treasury Department will hold on to the KS unclaimed money until residents and other citizens nationwide come to claim it.

Fortunately, people don't have to wait for the Kansas State Fair to come around in order to check if they are owed Kansas unclaimed funds. The individual states maintain databases for unclaimed money owners now and an unclaimed money search can be done anywhere there's an Internet connection. So, if you need extra funds ASAP, you can actually do an online search right now from where you are. The tricky part is doing a search for unclaimed money in several state databases (a good idea for those who've lived in various states). A centralized database for national unclaimed money does not exist, so it's quite easy to go on an online wild goose chase if you don't know where and how to look.

Unclaimed money and property expert Russ Johnson has been assisting Americans in finding their unclaimed money online since 1997. His site, http://www.unclaimedmoney.net, is updated regularly and offers guaranteed official searches for Kansas unclaimed money and missing money across the country.