Unclaimed Property: Laws, Compliance and Enforcement

The field of unclaimed property has grown dramatically over the past few years. States have become more aggressive in enforcing their unclaimed property laws and have been changing them substantially nearly every year. This has created a compliance issue that is complex and at times confusing to companies who generate and hold unclaimed money. A whole industry of unclaimed property service providers has grown up in the past 10 years to address the issues of compliance with these complex and ever-changing laws.

Owners of unclaimed property can now access this information on the Internet through several websites, including sites provided by the states themselves. The public policy goal of the unclaimed property laws has been achieved by putting into the public's hands online access to the vast databases of unclaimed money owed to individuals and corporations by the states. This has substantially raised the consciousness of unclaimed property laws, the responsibility to report unclaimed property by corporations, and the operational issues that such compliance raises.

Unclaimed Property: Laws, Compliance and Enforcement by noted unclaimed property authorities, Anthony L. Andreoli and J. Brooke Spotswood, is a BRAND-NEW RESOURCE from CCH. It puts the entire body of unclaimed property law in one concise work that gives not only the statutory law, but also carefully analyses the rich body of case law that has developed in the field over the past century. Many major concepts in the law of unclaimed property have come from the courts in countless decisions on what rights and obligations holders of unclaimed property have and how these laws serve to protect the interests of owners who have lost or forgotten certain of their assets.

This insightful guide summarizes the duties imposed by the statutes upon holders, carefully analyzes the case law, and discusses the state administrative aspects that make unclaimed property compliance perplexing to many. As the states step up their enforcement of their unclaimed property laws by hiring more auditors, including contingent-fee private contract auditors, holders of unclaimed property will be compelled to address the issues raised in this field. This new book offers a complete, self-contained reference providing answers to today's unclaimed property questions on the law, how to comply with the law, and how states enforce these laws.