Treasurer's Staff to Answer Unclaimed Property Questions at State Fair

Missouri treasurer's staffers and members of the unclaimed property team will be at the 2011 State Fair every day beginning Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and ending Aug. 21 in the Mathewson Exhibition Center to help Missourians find and claim their property. 

Fairgoers will be able to search for property, file claims and ask questions of staffers at the fair, a news release from the treasurer’s office states.

“Thousands of Missourians will visit Sedalia for the State Fair, and it’s a perfect time to see if they, their family or their friends have some money waiting for them,” Zweifel said in the news release.

“Most fairgoers are going to find money or know someone who is owed money. The average claim is $300, so it is worth a visit,” he said.

More than 400 residents found $56,858 last year’s fair and one in 10 Missourians has unclaimed property, which totals more than $600 million, the news release said.

Missouri residents can search for unclaimed property at www.ShowMeMoney.com. They can also receive email notifications when new unclaimed property matching their information is added to the state database. 

About $85 million has been returned to 260,000 Missouri residents since January 2009, the news release said. 

Most unclaimed property is cash from bank accounts, stocks, bonds and abandoned safe deposit boxes. It also includes uncollected insurance policy proceeds, government refunds, utility deposits and wages from past jobs, the news release said. 

The Missouri treasurer’s office does not handle property such as land, houses, cars and boats.

Treasurer Zweifel never charges for the return of unclaimed property, the news release said.