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House Bill 1514 |
House Author: Landgraf |
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Effective: 5-18-21 |
Senate Sponsor: Zaffirini |
House Bill 1514 amends the Estates Code, Insurance Code, and Property Code to revise provisions relating to the state's unclaimed property program. The bill repeals procedures for reporting, delivering, and claiming unclaimed life insurance or annuity contract proceeds and subjects such proceeds instead to the standard process applicable to other types of unclaimed property, which results in a reporting deadline change. The bill further clarifies that the standard process applies to any unclaimed property required to be reported and delivered to the comptroller of public accounts, including property associated with a prepaid funeral benefits contract that is presumed abandoned.
House Bill 1514 exempts tangible or intangible personal property that is a worthless or non-freely transferable security from provisions governing the abandonment of personal property and authorizes the comptroller to dispose of any delivered property that is not marketable or has insubstantial commercial value. The bill provides for the disposition of securities delivered to the comptroller.
House Bill 1514 requires a claim filed with the comptroller to identify the specific property being claimed and include all necessary documentation, revises the list of individuals for whom the comptroller may approve a claim, and provides for a waiver of the requirement to file a claim under certain circumstances. The bill authorizes a person who informs a potential claimant that they may be entitled to property under the program to receive reasonable attorney's fees necessary to pursue the claim and sets out certain conditions that must be met for an agreement to assist a claimant in the recovery of property to be enforceable. The bill also revises the following:
· the methods by which a court clerk may serve on the comptroller a certified copy of an order to an executor or administrator of an estate to pay certain shares of the estate to the state;
· the methods and deadline for an unclaimed property holder to provide due diligence notice to the property owner;
· the process for appealing a decision on a claim; and
· the conditions under which the comptroller may waive penalty or interest imposed on delinquent property.