After a lawsuit vs. Delaware, Kansas will receive $1.5 million

Kansas State Treasurer Steven Johnson and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach say the state will collect more than $1.5 million in settlement funds, concluding multistate litigation against the state of Delaware.

The settlement marks the conclusion of a handful of lawsuits to determine which state collects the funds from unclaimed property. In this case, Delaware argued that unclaimed property funds escheated from MoneyGram, a money transfer company, to Delaware’s Office of Unclaimed Property should remain with Delaware, the corporate home of MoneyGram. A coalition of 29 states, including Kansas, argued the unclaimed funds from MoneyGram checks should be escheated to the states where the unclaimed property originated.

Under the terms of the settlement, 30 states will receive more than $102 million of the property that MoneyGram reported to Delaware from 2011 to 2017. Distribution of funds will be based on each monetary instrument’s place of purchase. In addition, approximately $89 million deposited by MoneyGram in a litigation escrow account from 2018 to 2022, plus interest earned, will be distributed to the 30 states based on place of purchase.

States will assume custody and responsibility to return any property received under the terms of the settlement or from the escrow account to owners, including paying any claims for the property. The settlement agreement ends the outstanding parts of the ongoing litigation before the Supreme Court of the United States.

"This settlement will ease the ability for Kansans to located over $1.5 million in missing MoneyGram funds improperly held by the state of Delaware," Johnson said. "These funds will eventually be part of our statewide outreach efforts to reunite unclaimed property funds with the rightful owners."

In total, Kansas will receive $1,552,010 in settlement and escrow funds, plus interest.