Wisconsin is sending about 3,000 vets notice.
There are about 3,000 veterans statewide who are owed unclaimed property. The state recently began sending letters to the veterans that are owed their share.
Where is this money from? Cash, securities, escheated estates (those given to the state when no heirs exist) and contents of abandoned safe deposit boxes are regularly turned over to the Office of the State Treasurer. The treasurer’s office then attempts to find the owners. It publishes unclaimed property lists and it maintains a searchable database of unclaimed property online. But many people still never realize they have anything coming to them.
Wisconsin is trying a new tactic…the treasurer’s office recently crosschecked its unclaimed property records against veteran records from the state Department of Veterans Affairs.
The agencies came up with a list of about 3,000 veterans who, according to records, have unclaimed property coming. These are the veterans that within days should be receiving letters in their mailboxes.
“Certainly this is a first step to reaching out to veterans to tell them they have unclaimed money,” voiced state Treasurer Jack Voight.
“We don’t have updated, current addresses for these veterans so we are going to the most current, updated addresses the state Department of Veterans Affairs has,” Voight said.
In the letters, veterans will be given instructions on how to confirm their identity and claim the money. Per Voight the average claim is about $400 and all the claims for the veterans total more than $1 million. This represents a small percentage of all the property the state holds. Voight said the state has close to 600,000 open claims worth a total of about $300 million.
To search for your unclaimed money – visit cashunclaimed.com
