What constitutes “property” for purposes of the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act?
As noted in the previous post, Tennessee recently adopted the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act. Under the Act, property is presumed abandoned if it goes unclaimed for a sufficient period of time. Afterward, the state treasurer may take custody of the property while it attempts to notify the owner. If the property remains unclaimed, the treasurer may eventually sell it and pay the proceeds into the state’s general fund.
The following property is subject to disposition under the Act:
- Contents of a safe deposit box
- With respect to the tangible property of an estate:
- Distributive share of a deceased beneficiary
- Distributive share of a beneficiary who cannot be located
- Distributive share of a beneficiary who refuses to receive his share
- Tangible assets subject to escheat under the intestacy statute
- Intangible property held by a third party, including the government, such as:
- Money
- Virtual currency
- Interest
- Dividends
- Amounts evidenced by check, draft, deposit, or payroll card
- Credit balances
- Customer overpayments
- Stored-value card
- Security deposits
- Refunds
- Credit memorandums
- Unpaid wages
- Unused tickets
- Mineral proceeds
- Unidentified remittances
- Securities
- Bonds, debentures, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness
- Insurance proceeds
- Retirement, pension, and other employee benefit plans
The Act does NOT cover the following:
- Game-related digital content
- Loyalty cards
- In-store credit for returned merchandise
- Gift cards
Source: Public Chapter 457 (HB 420) (pdf)
Posted by Joel D. Roettger, JD, LLM, EPLS