Terms Used In Florida Statutes 717.133

  • Department: means the Department of Financial Services. See Florida Statutes 717.101
  • 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
  • Holder: means a person, wherever organized or domiciled, who is:
    (a) In possession of property belonging to another;
    (b) A trustee in case of a trust; or
    (c) Indebted to another on an obligation. See Florida Statutes 717.101
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any state, district, commonwealth, territory, insular possession, and any other area subject to the legislative authority of the United States. See Florida Statutes 717.101

(1) The department may enter into agreements with other states to exchange information needed to enable this or another state to audit or otherwise determine unclaimed property that it or another state may be entitled to subject to a claim of custody. The department may require the reporting of information needed to enable compliance with agreements made pursuant to this section and prescribe the form.
(2) The department may join with other states to seek enforcement of this chapter against any person.
(3) At the request of another state, the department may bring an action in the name of the other state in any court of competent jurisdiction to enforce the unclaimed property laws of the other state against a holder in this state of property subject to escheat or a claim of abandonment by the other state, if the other state has agreed to pay expenses incurred in bringing the action.
(4) The department may request that the attorney general of another state or any other person bring an action in the name of the department in the other state. The department may pay all expenses including attorneys’ fees in any action under this subsection.
(5) As necessary for proper administration of this chapter, the department may enter into contracts for the location or collection of property subject to payment or delivery to the department under this chapter.