Making the Most of Unclaimed Property in Wisconsin

Locate Wisconsin treasury unclaimed property to use in your business

Making the most of unclaimed property in Wisconsin will require you to determine the holder of the property. Cities and counties may serve as custodians of unclaimed property until certain criteria are met. At that time, custodianship of the property is then turned over to the state. This allows claimants to search for their property in a central location.

State of WI unclaimed property can be an inexpensive way to obtain business equipment as companies frequently lose property through misfortune or carelessness. The appropriate agency will require specific forms and procedures in order to approve your claim on the property. Unclaimed property generally falls into one of the following categories:

1. Liquid assets such as uncashed checks, a bank account or the contents of a safe deposit box.
2. Unclaimed property in WI that the original owner is unlikely to claim. This is commonly a wrecked vehicle or real estate with delinquent taxes, but may also include a treasure trove. Property owners usually have a superior claim to a treasure trove than a trespasser who discovers the property.
3. Wisconsin state unclaimed property that is confiscated by law enforcement. This is frequently the result of a drug or tax seizure.
   

 

Find agencies that handle state of Wisconsin unclaimed property

Start at the state level if you are looking for property that belongs to a specific person and work down.
Try: The Wisconsin State Treasurer maintains a database on unclaimed property that you can search by name or property ID. Price County describes the procedure for turning unclaimed property over to the state and also lists the owners of unclaimed property in Price County.

Learn more about the laws regarding Wisconsin unclaimed properties

Each state has laws regarding the disposition of unclaimed property. These laws should specify the conditions that allow the state to assume custodianship of the property and any conditions that allow the property to revert to the state.
Try: The Wisconsin State Legislature addresses unclaimed property in Chapter 177 of the state statute. Reinhart Boerner & Van Deuren has specific expertise in using unclaimed property to minimize taxes.

Buy a vehicle in a WI unclaimed property auction

Look at the various auctions that occur regularly throughout Wisconsin if you are interested in bidding on a car. Vehicles are typically the mainstays of unclaimed property auctions and consist of abandoned vehicles, vehicles seized by law enforcement and surplus vehicles.
Try: The City of Cedarburg maintains current information on its procedure for putting abandoned vehicles up for auction. The City of La Crosse provides a FAQ on auctioning vehicles in its impound lot on a regular basis.

 

• The process of turning over unclaimed property in Wisconsin to the state is called escheatment and legal documents may therefore refer to the property as escheat. Businesses usually encounter escheat in the form of an unclaimed pay check and are generally required to make a good faith effort to find the owner.

Copyright © 2011 Business.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

---