JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Missouri treasurer's office says it returned a record amount of lost property to people in fiscal year 2012.
Treasurer Clint Zweifel (ZWY'ful) says his unclaimed property division returned $38.2 million worth of items to 130,000 account holders during the state fiscal year that ended Saturday. That broke records set the previous year for both the dollar value and the number of accounts resolved.
State law requires financial institutions, insurance companies and other entities to turn over assets to the state when there have been no transactions or contact with the owner for five or more years.
Most unclaimed property consists of cash from bank accounts, stocks, bonds and the contents of safe deposit boxes. The state returns the items to owners when they come forward to claim them.