AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning property.
SECTION 1. IC 32-34-1-1, AS ADDED BY P.L.2-2002, SECTION
19, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1,
2003]: Sec. 1. (a) This chapter does not apply to any property held, due,
and owing in a foreign country and arising out of a foreign transaction.
(b) This chapter does not apply to:
(1) stocks;
(2) dividends;
(3) capital credits;
(4) patronage refunds;
(5) utility deposits;
(6) membership fees;
(7) account balances; or
(8) book equities;
for which the owner cannot be found and that are the result of
distributable savings of a rural electric membership corporation formed
under IC 8-1-13, a rural telephone cooperative corporation formed
under IC 8-1-17, or an agricultural cooperative association formed
under IC 15-7-1.
(c) This chapter does not apply to unclaimed overpayments of utility
bills that become the property of a municipality under IC 36-9-23-28.5.
(d) This chapter does not apply to deposits required by a
municipally owned utility (as defined in IC 8-1-2-1).
account and for a related account.
(b) The application of an automatic premium loan provision or other
nonforfeiture provision contained in an insurance policy does not
prevent the policy from maturing or terminating if the insured has died
or the insured or the beneficiary of the policy otherwise has become
entitled to the proceeds before the depletion of the cash surrender value
of the policy by the application of those provisions.
(c) Property that is held, issued, or owed in the ordinary course of
a holder's business is presumed abandoned if the owner or apparent
owner has not communicated in writing with the holder concerning the
property or has not otherwise given an indication of interest in the
property during the following times:
(1) For traveler's checks, fifteen (15) years after issuance.
(2) For money orders, seven (7) years after issuance.
(3) For consumer credits, three (3) years after the credit becomes
payable.
(4) For gift certificates, three (3) years after December 31 of the
year in which the gift certificate was sold. If the gift certificate is
redeemable in merchandise only, the amount abandoned is
considered to be sixty percent (60%) of the certificate's face
value.
(5) (4) For amounts owed by an insurer on a life or an endowment
insurance policy or an annuity contract:
(A) if the policy or contract has matured or terminated, three
(3) years after the obligation to pay arose; or
(B) if the policy or contract is payable upon proof of death,
three (3) years after the insured has attained, or would have
attained if living, the limiting age under the mortality table on
which the reserve is based.
(6) (5) For property distributable by a business association in a
course of dissolution, one (1) year after the property becomes
distributable.
(7) (6) For property or proceeds held by a court or a court clerk,
other than property or proceeds related to child support, five (5)
years after the property or proceeds become distributable. The
property or proceeds must be treated as unclaimed property under
IC 32-34-3. For property or proceeds related to child support held
by a court or a court clerk, ten (10) years after the property or
proceeds become distributable.
(8) (7) For property held by a state or other government,
governmental subdivision or agency, or public corporation or
other public authority, one (1) year after the property becomes
distributable.
(9) (8) For compensation for personal services, one (1) year after
the compensation becomes payable.
(10) (9) For deposits and refunds held for subscribers by utilities,
one (1) year after the deposits or refunds became payable.
(11) (10) For stock or other interest in a business association, five
(5) years after the earlier of:
(A) the date of the last dividend, stock split, or other
distribution unclaimed by the apparent owner; or
(B) the date of the second mailing of a statement of account or
other notification or communication that was:
(i) returned as undeliverable; or
(ii) made after the holder discontinued mailings to the
apparent owner.
(12) (11) For property in an individual retirement account or
another account or plan that is qualified for tax deferral under the
Internal Revenue Code, three (3) years after the earliest of:
(A) the actual date of the distribution or attempted
distribution;
(B) the distribution date as stated in the plan or trust
agreement governing the plan; or
(C) the date specified in the Internal Revenue Code by which
distribution must begin in order to avoid a tax penalty.
(13) (12) For a demand, savings, or matured time deposit,
including a deposit that is automatically renewable, five (5) years
after maturity or five (5) years after the date of the last indication
by the owner of interest in the property, whichever is earlier.
Property that is automatically renewable is considered matured
for purposes of this section upon the expiration of its initial
period, unless the owner has consented to a renewal at or about
the time of the renewal and the consent is in writing or is
evidenced by a memorandum or other record on file with the
holder.
(14) (13) For all other property, the earlier of five (5) years after:
(A) the owner's right to demand the property; or
(B) the obligation to pay or distribute the property;
arose.
(d) Property is payable or distributed for purposes of this chapter
notwithstanding the owner's failure to make demand or present an
instrument or a document otherwise required to receive payment.
SECTION 3. IC 32-34-1-26, AS ADDED BY P.L.2-2002,
SECTION 19, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
JULY 1, 2003]: Sec. 26. (a) A holder of property that is presumed
abandoned and that is subject to custody as unclaimed property under
this chapter shall report in writing to the attorney general concerning
the property. Items of value of less than fifty dollars ($50) may be
reported by the holder in the aggregate.
(b) For each item with a value of at least fifty dollars ($50), the
report required under subsection (a) must be verified and must include
the following:
(1) Except with respect to traveler's checks and money orders,
The apparent owner's:
(A) name, if known;
(B) last known address, if any; and
(C) Social Security number or taxpayer identification number,
if readily ascertainable.
(2) In the case of the contents of a safe deposit box or other
safekeeping depository of tangible property:
(A) a description of the property;
(B) the place where the property is held and may be inspected
by the attorney general; and
(C) any amount that is owed to the holder.
(3) The date:
(A) the property became payable, demandable, or returnable;
and
(B) of the last transaction with the apparent owner with respect
to the property.
(4) Other information that the attorney general requires by rules
adopted under IC 4-22-2 as necessary for the administration of
this chapter.
(c) If:
(1) a holder of property that is presumed abandoned and that is
subject to custody as unclaimed property is a successor to another
person who previously held the property for the apparent owner;
or
(2) the holder has changed its name while holding the property;
the holder shall file with the report required by subsection (a) the
former names of the holder, if any, and the known name and address of
any previous holder of the property.
(d) The report required by subsection (a) must be filed as follows:
(1) The report of a life insurance company must be filed before
May 1 of each year for the calendar year preceding the year in
which the report is filed.
(2) All other holders must file the report before November 1 of
each year to cover the year preceding July 1 of the year in which
the report is filed.
(d) The attorney general shall establish filing dates for the
report required by subsection (a).
(e) The holder of property that is presumed abandoned and that is
subject to custody as unclaimed property under this chapter shall, not
more than one hundred twenty (120) days or less than sixty (60) days
before filing the report required by subsection (a), send written notice
to the apparent owner of the property stating that the holder is in
possession of property subject to this chapter if:
(1) the holder has a record of an address for the apparent owner
that the holder's records do not show as inaccurate;
(2) the claim of the apparent owner is not barred by the statute of
limitations; and
(3) the value of the property is at least fifty dollars ($50).
(f) Before the date of filing the report required by subsection (a), the
holder may request the attorney general to extend the time for filing the
report. The attorney general may grant the extension upon a showing
of good cause. The holder, upon receipt of the extension, may make an
interim payment on the amount the holder estimates will ultimately be
due. The making of an interim payment under this subsection suspends
the accrual of interest on the amount.
(g) The holder shall file with the report an affidavit stating that the
holder has complied with this section.
SECTION 4. IC 32-34-1-28, AS ADDED BY P.L.2-2002,
SECTION 19, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
JULY 1, 2003]: Sec. 28. (a) Except as provided in subsection (e), the
attorney general shall publish a notice not later than November 30 of
the year immediately following the year in which unclaimed property
has been paid or delivered to the attorney general.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (c), the notice required by
subsection (a) must be published at least once each week for two (2)
successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation published in the
county in Indiana of the last known address of any person named in the
notice.
(c) If the holder:
(1) does not report an address for the apparent owner; or
(2) reports an address outside Indiana;
the notice must be published in the county in which the holder has its
principal place of business within Indiana or any other county that the
attorney general may reasonably select.
(d) The advertised notice required by this section must be in a form
that, in the judgment of the attorney general, will attract the attention
of the apparent owner of the unclaimed property and must contain the
following information:
(1) The name of each person appearing to be an owner of property
that is presumed abandoned, as set forth in the report filed by the
holder.
(2) The last known address or location of each person appearing
to be an owner of property that is presumed abandoned, if an
address or a location is set forth in the report filed by the holder.
(3) A statement explaining that the property of the owner is
presumed to be abandoned and has been taken into the protective
custody of the attorney general.
(4) A statement that information about the abandoned property
and its return to the owner is available, upon request, from the
attorney general, to a person having a legal or beneficial interest
in the property.
(e) The attorney general is not required to publish the following in
the notice:
(1) Any item with a value of less than fifty one hundred dollars
($50) ($100).
(2) Information concerning a traveler's check, money order, or any
similar instrument.
SECTION 5. IC 32-34-1-31, AS ADDED BY P.L.2-2002,
SECTION 19, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
JULY 1, 2003]: Sec. 31. (a) Except as provided in subsections (b), and
(c), and (f), the attorney general, not later than three (3) years after the
receipt of abandoned property, shall sell the property to the highest
bidder at a commercially reasonable public sale in a city in Indiana
that, in the judgment of the attorney general, affords the most favorable
market for the property. The attorney general may decline the highest
bid and reoffer the property for sale if, in the judgment of the attorney
general, the bid is insufficient. If, in the judgment of the attorney
general, the probable cost of the sale exceeds the value of the property,
the attorney general is not required to offer the property for sale. A sale
held under this section must be preceded, at least three (3) weeks
before the sale, by one (1) publication of notice in a newspaper of
general circulation published in the county in which the property is to
be sold.
(b) If the property is of a type that is customarily sold on a
recognized market or that is subject to widely distributed standard price
quotations, and if, in the opinion of the attorney general, the probable
cost of a public sale to the highest bidder would:
the abandoned property fund established by section 33 of this chapter
in accordance with this section.
(b) The attorney general shall specify in the notice required by
section 28 of this chapter the latest date the apparent owner may claim
the property from the property custody fund. Notice must also be
mailed to each person having a last known address listed in the report
to the attorney general filed under section 26 of this chapter.
(c) Except as provided in subsection (d), not later than twenty-five
(25) days after the date specified in the notice published under
subsection (b), the treasurer of state, upon order of the attorney general,
shall transfer the principal of the property to which the notice relates
from property custody fund to the abandoned property fund.
(d) The attorney general may allow a claim of the apparent owner
before the principal of the property in the property custody fund is
transferred to the abandoned property fund under subsection (c). After
the elapse of the twenty-five (25) days referred to in subsection (c), the
funds are considered abandoned property instead of property received
under section 39(b) of this chapter for purposes of this chapter.
SECTION 7. IC 32-34-1-33, AS ADDED BY P.L.2-2002,
SECTION 19, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
JULY 1, 2003]: Sec. 33. (a) The abandoned property fund is
established. Except as provided in subsection (b) and section sections
31 and 32 of this chapter, money received by the attorney general
under this chapter, including the proceeds from the sale of abandoned
property under section 31 of this chapter, shall be transferred by the
attorney general to the treasurer of state for deposit in the abandoned
property fund.
(b) Money received under this chapter that was originally drawn
from a fund under the control of a local unit of government shall be
transferred to the fund from which the money was originally drawn.
SECTION 8. IC 32-34-1-36, AS ADDED BY P.L.2-2002,
SECTION 19, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
JULY 1, 2003]: Sec. 36. (a) Except as provided in subsection (f), a
person, except another state, claiming an interest in property paid or
delivered to the attorney general may file a claim on a form prescribed
by the attorney general and verified by the claimant. To be considered
by the attorney general, the claim must meet the requirements
established by the attorney general.
(b) Not later than ninety (90) days after a claim that meets the
requirements established by the attorney general is filed under
subsection (a), the attorney general shall:
(1) consider the claim; and