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Jurisdiction Suzanne Darling Affiliated Computer Services

Jurisdiction Suzanne Darling Affiliated Computer Services. A Little Bit of History, or How We Got Here . Escheat dates back to English feudal law when the sovereign held title to all real property Bona vacantia similarly applied to personal property

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Jurisdiction Suzanne Darling Affiliated Computer Services

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  1. JurisdictionSuzanne Darling Affiliated Computer Services

  2. A Little Bit of History, or How We Got Here • Escheat dates back to English feudal law when the sovereign held title to all real property • Bona vacantia similarly applied to personal property • Escheat and bona vacantia were Americanized after the Revolutionary War

  3. In the U.S., a Culture of Personal Property Ownership Grew • The U.S. industrialized, capitalism thrived, and more and more people owned financial assets • Financial assets went unclaimed and, over time, the laws of unclaimed property as we know them were developed

  4. Things Were Easy…for a While • Early legislation involved property with all parties located in the same state • It was obvious which state had jurisdiction to escheat the property

  5. But then it got complicated and somebody had to make some rules!!

  6. What Happened Next • Sun Oil Company was incorporated in NJ, headquartered in PA • It had locations and conducted business in many states • It owed unclaimed property to owners across the country • It faced competing demands from three different states claiming jurisdiction to escheat the same property

  7. The Result: the Landmark Case of Texas v New Jersey, 379 U.S. 674 (1965) • Texas sued New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Sun Oil in the US Supreme Court • Florida joined in • Everybody had a different theory about where the money should go

  8. The Supreme Court Set Out Two Simple Rules • Primary rule: The holder (debtor) reports the property to the state of the last known address of the owner (creditor) • Secondary rule: If there is no last known address on the holder’s records, the holder (debtor) reports the property to the holder’s state of incorporation

  9. The Facts May Change, but the Rules Stay the Same • In two later cases, the Court reaffirmed the rules: • Pennsylvania v New York, 407 U.S. 206 (1972) • Delaware v New York, 507 U.S. 490 (1993)

  10. The Bottom Line • The law of unclaimed property is engrained in our history • All unclaimed property goes somewhere and you need to be able to figure out where • The Supreme Court tried to make it easy for you by setting out two simple rules in Texas v New Jersey • You just have to play by the rules

  11. Questions?

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