Legal Matters

Compliance is further complicated because it’s sometimes difficult to determine which state is entitled to the unclaimed property. It’s not uncommon for states to compete with each other for these unclaimed funds.

The U.S. Supreme Court tried to referee the battle among competing — did someone say greedy? — states more than 40 years ago, establishing the basic principles controlling which jurisdiction has priority over unclaimed property. In the case of Texas v. New Jersey, the Supreme Court ruled that first priority goes to the state of the rightful owner’s (e.g., customer’s) last known address as evidenced by the holder’s business records.