Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced today that Montana will receive $901,528 as part of a multi-state settlement, concluding the outstanding damages phase of a dispute over unclaimed property with Delaware.
The conflict arose when states discovered that Delaware had been misapplying federal law by advising MoneyGram Payment Systems, Inc. to allocate unclaimed official checks to Delaware, rather than returning them to the states where they were originally purchased. In a landmark decision earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Montana and 29 other coalition states, affirming that unclaimed checks issued by MoneyGram are governed by the Federal Disposition Act. This law mandates that unclaimed property should be returned to the state of purchase.
Montana’s share is part of a larger $190 million multi-state settlement, which will be deposited directly into the state’s general fund.
