Specialists with the Unclaimed Property Division of the Nebraska State Treasurer’s Office kick off the outreach season later this week at the Sarpy County Fair in Springfield, Nebraska State Treasurer Don Stenberg said today.
Unclaimed Property staff members will be available Wednesday through Sunday in the Commercial Building at the Sarpy County Fair to help fairgoers search for unclaimed property and file claims. The Treasurer’s records show 26,385 properties in Sarpy County, totaling more than $4.7 million. The largest amount is more than $10,000 for Albert and Mary Parker of La Vista.
In addition to the county fair in Springfield, Unclaimed Property team members also will be available to help Nebraskans search and file claims at the following events:
“We invite Nebraskans to stop at our outreach booth at these upcoming events. We look forward to helping people search for money they didn’t know they were missing,” Stenberg said. “With more than 350,000 names in our database, Nebraskans have a very good chance of finding money or the contents of safe deposit boxes that have been turned over to the Treasurer’s Office. Many times a family visits our outreach booth, convinced they will not find anything. But they are often pleasantly surprised to find we are holding money for them—and sometimes for family and friends too—and are happy they took the time to stop and grateful for our services.”
The Treasurer’s Office paid out $15,323,046 in unclaimed property in 2017, the second largest amount in program history. The largest claim paid in 2017 was more than $340,000 to an Omaha family trust. The average claim was $914. More than 11,000 claims totaling more than $7 million have been paid so far in 2018.
Stenberg said outreach events enable Nebraskans to search the Treasurer’s binders of names, ask questions, and determine documentation needed to complete claims. Many people can complete the claims process at the event. Others may need to retrieve necessary documents and submit the claim later by mail or in person at the Treasurer’s Office in the Capitol or at the Unclaimed Property Office at 809 P Street in Lincoln.
Representatives of the Nebraska Educational Savings Trust (NEST) and the Enable Savings Plan also will be available at the Treasurer’s booth at the Nebraska State Fair and Husker Harvest Days. NEST is Nebraska’s state-sponsored, tax-advantaged 529 college savings plan. Enable is a tax-advantaged savings plan for children and adults with qualifying disabilities that allows them to save and pay for disability-related expenses without affecting their public assistance benefits like Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
Treasurer Stenberg is Trustee of NEST and Enable. First National Bank of Omaha is Program Manager of both.
Nebraskans are encouraged to check the Treasurer’s website at treasurer.nebraska.gov to search for unclaimed property. New properties are added regularly. Owners may file claims under $500 online through the website. For an amount greater than $500, an owner may fill out the claim form on the website and mail to the Nebraska Treasurer’s Office, Unclaimed Property Division, 809 P St., Lincoln, NE 68508-1390. The form must be notarized.
Nebraskans also can call the Unclaimed Property Division at 1-877-572-9688 toll free or 402-471-8497 or visit the Unclaimed Property office at 809 P Street in Lincoln or in Suite 2005 of the Capitol. To file a claim for a deceased relative, an owner must provide documentation including a will, death certificate, obituary notice, and personal representative documents.
