2021 Georgia Code
Title 44 - Property
Chapter 12 - Rights in Personalty
Article 5 - Disposition of Unclaimed Property
§ 44-12-201. When Undistributed Dividends and Distributions of Business Associations Presumed Abandoned; When Intangible Interest in Business Associations Presumed Abandoned

1. Pursuant to Code Section 44-12-193, any dividend, profit, distribution, interest, payment on principal, or other sum held or owing by a business association for or to its shareholder, certificate holder, member, bondholder, or other security holder, or a participating patron of a cooperative, who has not claimed it, corresponded in writing concerning it, or otherwise indicated an interest as evidenced by a memorandum or other record on file with the association within five years after the date prescribed for payment or delivery is presumed abandoned.
2. 1. Pursuant to Code Section 44-12-193, any intangible interest in a business association, as evidenced by the stock records or membership records of the association, is presumed abandoned if the interest in the association is owned by a person who for more than five years has neither claimed a dividend or other sum referred to in subsection (a) of this Code section nor corresponded in writing with the association and the association does not know the location of the owner at the end of such five-year period. With respect to such interest, the business association shall be deemed the holder.
   2. All intangible property, including but not limited to securities, principal, interest, dividends, or other earnings thereon, less any lawful charges, held by a business association; federal, state, or local government or governmental subdivision, agency, or entity; or any other person or entity, regardless of where the holder may be found, if the owner has not claimed such property or corresponded in writing with the holder concerning the property within five years after the date prescribed for payment or delivery by the issuer unless the holder is a state that has taken custody pursuant to its own unclaimed property laws, in which case no additional period of holding beyond that of such state is necessary pursuant to this subsection, is presumed abandoned and subject to the custody of this state as unclaimed property if:
      1. The last known address of the owner is unknown; and
      2. The person or entity originating or issuing the intangible property is this state or any political subdivision of this state or is incorporated, organized, created, or otherwise located in this state.
   3. The provisions of paragraph (2) of this subsection shall not apply to property which is or may be presumed abandoned and subject to the custody of this state pursuant to any other provision of law containing a dormancy period different from that prescribed in paragraph (2) of this subsection.
   4. The provisions of this subsection shall apply to all property held on April 13, 1992, or at any time thereafter, regardless of when such property became or becomes presumptively abandoned.
3. Pursuant to Code Section 44-12-193, any dividends or other distributions held for or owing to a person at the time the stock or other security to which they attach are presumed abandoned also shall be presumed abandoned as of the same time.
4. For the purposes of subsections (a) and (b) of this Code section, a record of the sending of a federal Internal Revenue Service Form 1099, or its equivalent, to the persons enumerated in those subsections and a record of its not being returned by the United States Postal Service, or its successor, shall be an indication of interest.

(Code 1981, §44-12-201, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1506, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1237, § 7.)

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1990, a comma was inserted following "the association" near the beginning of the first sentence of subsection (b).

Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1992, "April 13, 1992," was substituted for "the effective date of this subsection" in paragraph (b)(4).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Bank reporting requirements.

- See 1973 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 73-11.

If any particular bank were doing business both in Georgia and another state and the last known address of the person owning the abandoned property was in the other state, the bank should report to the Commissioner of Revenue of the other state, but if the last known address of the owner of the abandoned property was in Georgia, the bank should report to the Commissioner of Banking and Finance in Georgia; if the last known address of the depositor is in neither state the answer would have to depend on the particular state involved and its laws as to unclaimed and abandoned property. 1974 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 74-68.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 1 Am. Jur. 2d, Abandoned, Lost, and Unclaimed Property, § 37. 27 Am. Jur. 2d, Escheat, § 30.

- 1 C.J.S., Abandonment, § 8 et seq. 30A C.J.S., Escheat § 4 et seq.

- Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act (U.L.A.) § 5.