◆ Wyoming law requires the state to hold unclaimed property in perpetuity until the rightful owner is able to claim it.
The state of Wyoming is holding over $91 million belonging to current and former residents of Wyoming, according to the Wyoming State Treasurer’s office. That total number includes more than $1.57 million earmarked for those in Lincoln County.
“We were planning to visit Carbon, Lincoln and Uinta counties in April as part of an outreach mission to help local citizens find and claim their lost money,” said Unclaimed Property Administrator Jeff Robertson. “The pandemic has forced us to change those plans, but we still want to help residents in those areas claim any money that is rightfully theirs.”
According to Robertson, a little over a year ago, the Unclaimed Property Division of Wyoming State Treasurer’s Office “upgraded its website and made it much easier for individuals to go through the claims process.”
“The easiest thing to do is to go to our website (www.mycash.wyo.gov) and watch the 2-minute video located on the left side of the page,” Robertson said. “It shows how you can search to see if you are entitled any money and then how to complete the claims process.”
Wyoming State Treasurer Curt Meier said this is a tough time for many Wyoming residents, so finding even a little bit of money through Unclaimed Property can help those who are struggling.
“The Covid-19 pandemic is causing many challenges for all of us in Wyoming, as well as across the country,” Meier said. “The prospect of a federal stimulus check a few weeks down the road is something we can look forward to, but Unclaimed Property is another avenue many may not be thinking of during this time.”
According to Robertson, money and other types of unclaimed property, such as royalties, stocks, mutual funds and safe deposit boxes, are “turned over to the state when a business, agency or governmental entity cannot locate the owner for a specified time period.”
“Even if you have received unclaimed property in the past, more money is turned over every year,”
Robertson said. “Because of this, the amount of money being held by the state continues to increase.”
Wyoming’s Unclaimed Property Division issued 6,084 checks totaling more than $6.857 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2019, Robertson said.
To make a claim, owners will need to:
• provide a valid ID. It can be uploaded directly to the website, emailed to wyomingup@wyo.gov or mailed through USPS.
• Additional documentation may also be required depending on the property in question and complexity of the claim.
Wyoming law requires the state to “hold unclaimed property in perpetuity until the rightful owner is able to claim it, Robertson said.
“We recently paid an individual over $50,000 that was turned over to the state in 1997,” Robertson said. “A lot of the higher-valued properties are in the names of individuals who are now deceased. We want to reunite this money with the heir or heirs, so make sure you also search for the name of a loved one who may have passed.”
Those not comfortable or able to search the website from a computer or mobile device may call the Wyoming State Treasurer’s Office at 307-777-5590, although wait times vary depending on demand, Robertson said.
