Kentuckians have $800M in unclaimed property lingering. Check to see if some is yours

The Office of the Kentucky State Treasurer is holding around $800 million in unclaimed property, and some of it could be yours.

Each year the office returns unclaimed property — often in the form of a check — to thousands of current residents, former residents, businesses and government organizations.

Unclaimed property includes things like payroll, vendor payments, settlement payouts, safe deposit boxes, insurance policies, stock earnings and other types of holdings owed to individuals who can no longer be reached or located, and therefore the property is turned over to the state. It can include monies or property owed to those who are deceased or have moved.

Real estate, stolen property and state and federal tax returns are not held as unclaimed property.

In addition to the traditional claims process, the office is offering expedited processing for claims made by those living in several eastern Kentucky counties hit by severe flooding in late July.

What to know about Kentucky’s unclaimed property

While the office could not give an average per person claim amount — due to claims consisting of “various types of financial property including cash, stocks, and physical items from lock boxes” — the state returned $27,707,461.79 in 2021, communications director Matt Frey told the Herald-Leader.

That nearly $28 million in returned property went to 17,241 claimants.

Frey said the unclaimed property held by the office ranges in individual claim value from a penny all the way to $733,497.93. (And no, Frey did not disclose who should claim that $733,000.)

Residents and businesses in Fayette County have $46,028,970.47 being held by the office, waiting to be claimed.

Eastern Kentucky unclaimed property

As of Aug. 2, the treasurer’s office is offering expedited processing for those in 13 eastern Kentucky counties.

“Eastern Kentucky is experiencing a tragedy,” State Treasurer Allison Ball said in a release. “As a native of Floyd County, I am heart broken to see the loss of life and devastation. We want to do whatever at the Treasury to help Eastern KY in this time of need.”

If you live in Breathitt, Clay, Floyd, Johnson, Knott, Leslie, Letcher, Magoffin, Martin, Owsley, Perry, Pike or Wolfe County, you qualify for the expedited processing.

Total unclaimed properties for those areas come to $16,422,929.17 as of Aug. 24, Frey wrote in an email to the Herald-Leader.

How to find out if you have unclaimed property in Kentucky

To check the state’s unclaimed property database, you can go online to kyclaims.unclaimedproperty.com/ and search by first and last name or company name. You can also narrow the search by city and check the status of claims you have filed.

The site does not disclose the exact amount of the claim through the search function, but will give you a general range, for example “$10 to $100” or “over $100.”

You can file a claim for multiple properties, and you will need to provide two types of proof of identity as part of the claims process.

“The claim processing time varies depending on the type of claim,” Frey noted. “Under KY law, different claims require different methods of verification. Some claims are eligible for our fast-tracking process and can receive a check within 5 to 10 working days.”

If you think you may have outstanding claims from multiple states, you can use Missing Money or Find my Funds.

The state treasurer’s office advises you should never have to enter credit card information or pay a fee to claim such property.

Do you have a question about Kentucky for our service journalism team? We’d like to hear from you. Fill out our Know Your Kentucky form or email ask@herald-leader.com.

This story was originally published August 29, 2022 at 1:29 PM.