This chapter may be cited as the Unclaimed Property Law.
Unclaimed Property LawShort Title; Definitions; Application
Section § 1500
This section states that the chapter can be referred to as the Unclaimed Property Law.
Unclaimed Property citation chapter name
Section § 1501
This section provides definitions for terms used in a specific chapter. It clarifies what is meant by 'apparent owner,' 'banking organization,' 'business association,' 'financial organization,' 'holder,' 'life insurance corporation,' 'owner,' 'person,' 'employee benefit plan distribution,' and 'residuals.' Basically, it's setting the foundation for understanding who and what can be involved in matters related to property ownership, financial entities, insurance, and employee benefits.
As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1501(a) “Apparent owner” means the person who appears from the records of the holder to be entitled to property held by the holder.
(b)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1501(b) “Banking organization” means any national or state bank, trust company, banking company, land bank, savings bank, safe-deposit company, private banker, or any similar organization.
(c)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1501(c) “Business association” means any private corporation,
joint stock company, business trust, partnership, or any association for business purposes of two or more individuals, whether or not for profit, including, but not by way of limitation, a banking organization, financial organization, life insurance corporation, and utility.
(d)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1501(d) “Financial organization” means any federal or state savings and loan association, building and loan association, credit union, investment company, or any similar organization.
(e)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1501(e) “Holder” means any person in possession of property subject to this chapter belonging to another, or who is trustee in case of a trust, or is indebted to another on an obligation subject to this chapter.
(f)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1501(f) “Life insurance corporation” means any association or corporation transacting the business of insurance on the lives of persons or insurance appertaining
thereto, including, but not by way of limitation, endowments, and annuities.
(g)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1501(g) “Owner” means a depositor in case of a deposit, a beneficiary in case of a trust, or creditor, claimant, or payee in case of other choses in action, or any person having a legal or equitable interest in property subject to this chapter, or his or her legal representative.
(h)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1501(h) “Person” means any individual, business association, government or governmental subdivision or agency, two or more persons having a joint or common interest, or any other legal or commercial entity, whether that person is acting in his or her own right or in a representative or fiduciary capacity.
(i)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1501(i) “Employee benefit plan distribution” means any money, life insurance, endowment or annuity policy or proceeds thereof, securities or other intangible property, or any
tangible property, distributable to a participant, former participant, or the beneficiary or estate or heirs of a participant or former participant or beneficiary, from a trust or custodial fund established under a plan to provide health and welfare, pension, vacation, severance, retirement benefit, death benefit, stock purchase, profit sharing, employee savings, supplemental unemployment insurance benefits or similar benefits, or which is established under a plan by a business association functioning as or in conjunction with a labor union which receives for distribution residuals on behalf of employees working under collective-bargaining agreements.
(j)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1501(j) “Residuals” means payments pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement of additional compensation for domestic and foreign uses of recorded materials.
apparent owner banking organization business association
Section § 1501.5
This section makes it clear that property received by the state will not permanently belong to the state. Instead, the state aims to return unclaimed property to its rightful owners. The law clarifies that any court statement suggesting otherwise is incorrect. The legislature's intention is to improve the unclaimed property program by increasing communication with property owners and implementing a more thorough notification system, both before and after the state receives unclaimed property. If property is deemed to have no commercial value, the state must wait at least seven years before disposing of it.
(a)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1501.5(a) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, property received by the state under this chapter shall not permanently escheat to the state.
(b)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1501.5(b) The Legislature finds and declares that this section is declaratory of the existing law and sets forth the intent of the Legislature regarding the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed
Property Act (Chapter 1809, Statutes of 1959) and all amendments thereto and revisions thereof. Any opinions, rulings, orders, judgments, or other statements to the contrary by any court are erroneous and inconsistent with the intent of the Legislature.
(c)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1501.5(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that property owners be reunited with their property. In making changes to the unclaimed property program, the Legislature intends to adopt a more expansive notification program that will provide all of the following:
(1)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1501.5(c)(1) Notification by the state to all owners of unclaimed property prior to escheatment.
(2)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1501.5(c)(2) A more expansive postescheatment policy that takes action to identify those owners of unclaimed property.
(3)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1501.5(c)(3) A waiting period of not less than seven years
from delivery of property to the state prior to disposal of any unclaimed property deemed to have no commercial value.
unclaimed property escheat notification program
Section § 1502
This law explains certain situations where its rules don't apply. Specifically, it doesn't cover property held by municipal utility districts, local agencies (if those can move their properties to their general funds), or courts (if they can move to the Trial Court Operations Fund). Additionally, it excludes any property the state receives under specific earlier chapters of the law.
(a)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1502(a) This chapter does not apply to any of the following:
(1)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1502(a)(1) Any property in the official custody of a municipal utility district.
(2)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1502(a)(2) Any property in the official custody of a local agency if such property may be transferred to the general fund of such agency under the provisions of Sections 50050-50053 of the Government Code.
(3)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1502(a)(3) Any property in
the official custody of a court if the property may be transferred to the Trial Court Operations Fund under Section 68084.1 of the Government Code.
(b)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1502(b) None of the provisions of this chapter applies to any type of property received by the state under the provisions of Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1300) to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 1440), inclusive, of this title.
municipal utility district local agency property general fund transfer
Section § 1503
This section outlines rules for handling property that was not considered abandoned according to the old rules before January 1, 1969. The "old act" refers to the laws before this date and the "new act" refers to the laws after that date. If an owner’s claim to this property was blocked by a statute of limitations before 1969, the holder doesn’t have to report or hand over that property. Also, if a piece of property hasn’t been held for the entire period it takes for the state to claim it (escheat), and was not reportable under the old act, it doesn’t need to be handed over.
(a)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1503(a) As used in this section:
(1)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1503(a)(1) “Old act” means this chapter as it existed prior to January 1, 1969.
(2)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1503(a)(2) “New act” means this chapter as it exists on and after January 1, 1969.
(3)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1503(a)(3) “Property not subject to the old act” means property that was not presumed abandoned under the old act and would never have been presumed abandoned under the old act had the old act continued in existence on and after January 1,
1969, without change.
(b)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1503(b) The holder is not required to file a report concerning, or to pay or deliver to the Controller, any property not subject to the old act if an action by the owner against the holder to recover that property was barred by an applicable statute of limitations prior to January 1, 1969.
(c)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1503(c) The holder is not required to file a report concerning, or to pay or deliver to the Controller, any property not subject to the old act, or any property that was not required to be reported under the old act, unless on January 1, 1969, the property has been held by the holder for less than the escheat period. “Escheat period” means the period referred to in Sections 1513 to 1521, inclusive, of the new act, whichever is applicable to the particular property.
old act new act property not subject
Section § 1504
This section of law talks about how property is handled under California's unclaimed property laws. It distinguishes between two versions of the law: the "old act" which was in place before 1969, and the "new act" enforced from 1969 onward. It specifies that any property taken by another state before 1959 is not affected by California's unclaimed property laws. Furthermore, if a property wasn't considered abandoned under the old law before its revision in 1969, and was taken by another state by 1970, it doesn't need to be transferred to California. However, California can still try to recover this property from the other state.
(a)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1504(a) As used in this section:
(1)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1504(a)(1) “Old act” means this chapter as it existed prior to January 1, 1969.
(2)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1504(a)(2) “New act” means this chapter as it exists on and after January 1, 1969.
(3)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1504(a)(3) “Property not subject to the old act” means property that was not presumed abandoned under the old act and would never have been presumed abandoned under the old act had the old act continued in existence on and after January 1, 1969, without change.
(b)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1504(b) This chapter does not apply to any property that was escheated under the laws of another state prior to September 18, 1959.
(c)CA Civil Procedure Code § 1504(c) This chapter does not require the holder to pay or deliver any property not subject to the old act to this state if the property was escheated under the laws of another state prior to January 1, 1969, and was delivered to the custody of that state prior to January 1, 1970, in compliance with the laws of that state. Nothing in this subdivision affects or limits the right of the State Controller to recover such property from the other state.
unclaimed property escheated old act
Section § 1505
This law is saying that if there was a duty to report or hand over property to the State Controller before January 1, 1969, those obligations still apply as they did back then. The State Controller can enforce these duties and impose penalties based on the rules that were in place before that date.
This chapter does not affect any duty to file a report with the State Controller or to pay or deliver any property to him that arose prior to January 1, 1969, under the provisions of this chapter as it existed prior to January 1, 1969. Such duties may be enforced by the State Controller, and the penalties for failure to perform such duties may be imposed, under the provisions of this chapter as it existed prior to January 1, 1969. The provisions of this chapter as it existed prior to January 1, 1969, are continued in existence for the purposes of this section.
pre-1969 obligations State Controller property delivery
Section § 1506
This section says that the rules in this chapter that are similar to the ones from before January 1, 1969, should be seen as continuations of the old rules, not entirely new ones.
The provisions of this chapter as it exists on and after January 1, 1969, insofar as they are substantially the same as the provisions of this chapter as it existed prior to January 1, 1969, relating to the same subject matter, shall be construed as restatements and continuations thereof and not as new enactments.
restatements continuations January 1
