California Code of Civil Procedure 1540 – (a) Any person, excluding another state, who claims to have been …
(a) Any person, excluding another state, who claims to have been the owner, as defined in subdivision (d), of property paid or delivered to the Controller under this chapter may file a claim to the property or to the net proceeds from its sale. The claim shall be on a form prescribed by the Controller and shall be verified by the claimant.
(b) The Controller shall consider each claim within 180 days after it is filed to determine if the claimant is the owner, as defined in subdivision (d), and may hold a hearing and receive evidence. The Controller shall give written notice to the claimant if the Controller denies the claim in whole or in part. The notice may be given by mailing it to the address, if any, stated in the claim as the address to which notices are to be sent. If no address is stated in the claim, the notice may be mailed to the address, if any, of the claimant as stated in the claim. A notice of denial need not be given if the claim fails to state either an address to which notices are to be sent or an address of the claimant.
Terms Used In California Code of Civil Procedure 1540
- County: includes "city and county. See California Code of Civil Procedure 17
- Escheat: Reversion of real or personal property to the state when 1) a person dies without leaving a will and has no heirs, or 2) when the property (such as a bank account) has been inactive for a certain period of time. Source: OCC
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- 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. See California Code of Civil Procedure 1501
- 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. See California Code of Civil Procedure 1501
- Probate: Proving a will
- Property: includes both personal and real property. See California Code of Civil Procedure 17
- State: includes the District of Columbia and the territories when applied to the different parts of the United States, and the words "United States" may include the district and territories. See California Code of Civil Procedure 17
(c) Interest shall not be payable on any claim paid under this chapter.
(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (g) of Section 1501, for purposes of filing a claim pursuant to this section, “owner” means the person who had legal right to the property before its escheat, the person’s heirs or estate representative, the person’s guardian or conservator, or a public administrator acting pursuant to the authority granted in Sections 7660 and 7661 of the Probate Code. An “owner” also means a nonprofit civic, charitable, or educational organization that granted a charter, sponsorship, or approval for the existence of the organization that had the legal right to the property before its escheat but that has dissolved or is no longer in existence, if the charter, sponsorship, approval, organization bylaws, or other governing documents provide that unclaimed or surplus property shall be conveyed to the granting organization upon dissolution or cessation to exist as a distinct legal entity. Only an owner, as defined in this subdivision, may file a claim with the Controller pursuant to this article.
(e) Following a public hearing, the Controller shall adopt guidelines and forms that shall provide specific instructions to assist owners in filing claims pursuant to this article.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision, property reported to, and received by, the Controller pursuant to this chapter in the name of a state agency, including the University of California and the California State University, or a local agency, including a school district and community college district, may be transferred by the Controller directly to the state or local agency without the filing of a claim. Property transferred pursuant to this subdivision is immune from suit pursuant to Section 1566 in the same manner as if the state or local agency had filed a claim to the property. For purposes of this subdivision, “local agency” means a city, county, city and county, or district.
(Amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 36, Sec. 26. (AB 3364) Effective January 1, 2021.)