Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1166 – When State Escheator must honor claim for property
(a) The State Escheator shall pay or deliver property to a claimant under § 1165 of this title if the State Escheator receives evidence sufficient to establish to the reasonable satisfaction of the State Escheator that the claimant is the owner of the property.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1166
- Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
- 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.
- Holder: means any person having possession, custody, or control of the property of another person and includes a post office, a depository, a bailee, a trustee, a receiver or other liquidating officer, a fiduciary, a governmental department, institution or agency, a municipal corporation and the fiscal officers thereof, a public utility, service corporation, and every other legal entity incorporated or created under the laws of this State or doing business in this State. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
- Owner: means a person, or the person's legal representative when acting on behalf of the person, that has a legal, beneficial, or equitable interest in property subject to this chapter. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
- Property: means tangible property described in § 1134 of this title or a fixed and certain interest in intangible property held, issued, or owed in the course of a holder's business or by a government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
- Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
- State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
- State Escheator: means the person responsible for the administration and enforcement of this chapter, as established by § 1102 of this title and § 363 of Title 30. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 1130
(b) The State Escheator shall allow or deny the claim and give the claimant notice of the determination in a written record, which includes the State Escheator’s initial attempt to pay or deliver the property to the claimant. If the claim is denied, the State Escheator shall inform the claimant of the reason for the denial and specify what additional evidence, if any, is required for the claim to be reconsidered.
(1), (2) [Repealed.]
(c) The State Escheator may exercise the powers granted by § 1171 of this title to investigate any suspicion of fraudulent activity in a claim and may refer the matter to law enforcement notwithstanding the confidentiality provisions contained in §§ 1174 and 1189 of this title.
(d) (1) For any property paid or delivered to the State Escheator before August 1, 2022, or for any property paid or delivered to the State Escheator from a bankruptcy proceeding, where the State Escheator subsequently determines that the holder‘s payment or delivery of property is less than the amount reported by the holder, the State Escheator shall pay any claim allowed on a pro rata basis determined by dividing the amount of property paid or delivered by the amount of property reported.
(2) This subsection is not to be construed to permit a holder to pay or deliver to the State Escheator less property than indicated by a report or determined as due under § 1142, § 1152, § 1170, § 1171, § 1172, or § 1173 of this title.
81 Del. Laws, c. 1, § 2; 83 Del. Laws, c. 59, § 10; 83 Del. Laws, c. 346, § 6;