The Unclaimed Property Division of the State Treasurer’s Office will be in Seward on the Fourth of July to help visitors search and file claims, State Treasurer Don Stenberg said today.
The booth will be open from 9 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. just north of Cattle Bank, on the south side of Seward Street.
“The Fourth of July is a perfect day to stop by our Unclaimed Property booth to see if you or your family members or friends have any unclaimed property,” said Treasurer Stenberg. “We are holding $125 million of property for more than 350,000 Nebraskans or former Nebraskans or heirs. Given those statistics, you have a one in five chance of finding property that belongs to you.”
Stenberg said, “One of the largest current holdings amounts to more than $437,000 in money and stock. Another is for more than $227,000 in insurance death benefits for an owner in Douglas County. We find that many times the property owners have died, and the property has been overlooked in estate proceedings. Heirs sometimes have no idea these significant assets exist,” Stenberg said.
Other large individual amounts currently in the Treasurer’s unclaimed property database are a $154,681 court deposit; a $99,545 vendor check; an $89,806 checking account; an $85,407 checking account; an $81,316 matured certificate of deposit; an $80,206 insurance death benefit, and $76,737 in royalties.
Unclaimed property consists of cash and other personal assets that are considered lost or abandoned after an owner cannot be located for a specified period of time. The property is turned over to the state by banks, insurance companies, governmental entities, merchants, and other businesses. Among the most common forms of unclaimed property are dividends, dormant accounts, gift certificates, insurance payments, matured CDs, lost IRAs, wages, rebates, stock and mutual funds, utility deposits, and abandoned safe deposit boxes. Unclaimed property does not include land, real estate, vehicles, or tax refunds.
The property is held by the state indefinitely until an owner or heir can be documented.
In addition to visiting the Treasurer’s booth in Seward on the Fourth of July, Nebraskans can search for unclaimed property using the following methods:
