Wyoming’s Unclaimed Property Division of the State Treasurer’s Office paid out a record $7.423 million to current and former state residents in the fiscal year that ended June 30.

The payment total easily broke the previous record of $6.857 million, set between July 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019.

“Each year we continue to get more money turned in to the state by businesses that cannot locate the owners of unclaimed property,” State Treasurer Curt Meier said. “We work hard to reunite as much of this money as possible, and the numbers recorded this year show that our efforts paid off.”

Still, the disbursements didn’t keep up with the record amount of unclaimed funds — $10.102 million — that poured into the state last year. The State of Wyoming is still holding on to more than $93 million waiting to be claimed.

“With so much more money added each year, we encourage citizens to visit our website at least once every year or two to see if anything is owed to them,” Meier said. “Even if you have received a check in the past, there’s still a good chance there are more funds waiting for you.”

The largest claim for the year was for more than $580,000, paid to a citizen in Sweetwater County. A total of 12 checks were issued with a value of $100,000 or more, and 108 payments for the fiscal year topped the $10,000 mark. The Unclaimed Property Division also returned more than 6,300 shares of securities.

In Park County, the largest claim paid in the past fiscal year totaled $26,071.23.

Property is turned over to the state when a business, agency or governmental entity owes property (typically money or securities), to someone and can’t locate the owner.

Citizens and business owners can visit the Treasurer’s website at www.mycash.wyo.gov and see if they are entitled to any of these funds. There is a two-minute instructional video on the left side of the page that explains how to make a claim and complete the claims process.

To make a valid claim, owners will need to provide information about themselves and may need to submit official documents. This could be as simple as a copy of a driver’s license if the property is in your name, but additional documents may be requested if you are claiming as an heir or a business.

Wyoming law requires the state to hold unclaimed property in perpetuity until the rightful owner is able to claim it.