Florida Statutes 717.102 – Property presumed unclaimed; general rule
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(1) All intangible property, including any income or increment thereon less any lawful charges, that is held, issued, or owing in the ordinary course of the holder‘s business and the owner fails to claim such property for more than 5 years after the property becomes payable or distributable is presumed unclaimed, except as otherwise provided by this chapter.
(2) Property is payable or distributable for the purpose of this chapter notwithstanding the owner’s failure to make demand or to present any instrument or document required to receive payment.
(3) A presumption that property is unclaimed is rebutted by an apparent owner‘s expression of interest in the property. An owner’s expression of interest in property includes:
(a) A record communicated by the apparent owner to the holder or agent of the holder concerning the property or the account in which the property is held;
Terms Used In Florida Statutes 717.102
- Apparent owner: means the person whose name appears on the records of the holder as the person entitled to property held, issued, or owing by the holder. See Florida Statutes 717.101
- Business association: means any for-profit or nonprofit corporation other than a public corporation; joint stock company; investment company; unincorporated association or association of two or more individuals for business purposes, whether or not for profit; partnership; joint venture; limited liability company; sole proprietorship; business trust; trust company; land bank; safe-deposit company; safekeeping depository; financial organization; insurance company; federally chartered entity; utility company; or other business entity, whether or not for profit. See Florida Statutes 717.101
- Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
- Financial organization: means a savings association, savings and loan association, savings bank, industrial bank, bank, banking organization, trust company, international bank agency, cooperative bank, building and loan association, or credit union. See Florida Statutes 717.101
- Holder: means :(a) A person who is in possession or control or has custody of property or the rights to property belonging to another; is indebted to another on an obligation; or is obligated to hold for the account of, or to deliver or pay to, the owner, property subject to this chapter; or(b) A trustee in case of a trust. See Florida Statutes 717.101
- Lawful charges: means charges against dormant accounts that are authorized by statute for the purpose of offsetting the costs of maintaining the dormant account. See Florida Statutes 717.101
- Owner: means a person, or the person's legal representative, entitled to receive or having a legal or equitable interest in or claim against property subject to this chapter; a depositor in the case of a deposit; a beneficiary in the case of a trust or a deposit in trust; or a payee in the case of a negotiable instrument or other intangible property. See Florida Statutes 717.101
- 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 Florida Statutes 717.101
(b) An oral communication by the apparent owner to the holder or agent of the holder concerning the property or the account in which the property is held, if the holder or its agent contemporaneously makes and preserves a record of the fact of the apparent owner’s communication;(c) Presentment of a check or other instrument of payment of a dividend, interest payment, or other distribution, with respect to an account, underlying security, or interest in a business association;(d) Activity directed by an apparent owner in the account in which the property is held, including accessing the account or information concerning the account, or a direction by the apparent owner to increase, decrease, or otherwise change the amount or type of property held in the account;(e) A deposit into or withdrawal from an account at a financial organization, excluding an automatic deposit or withdrawal previously authorized by the apparent owner or an automatic reinvestment of dividends or interest, which does not constitute an expression of interest; or(f) Any other action by the apparent owner which reasonably demonstrates to the holder that the apparent owner knows that the property exists.
(4) If a holder learns or receives confirmation of an apparent owner’s death, the property shall be presumed unclaimed 2 years after the date of death, unless a fiduciary appointed to represent the estate of the apparent owner has made an expression of interest in the property before the expiration of the 2-year period. This subsection may not be construed to extend the otherwise applicable dormancy period prescribed by this chapter.