Massachusetts Statutes

Section 11. (a) At the request of another state, the attorney general may bring an action in the name of such other state in any court of competent jurisdiction in the commonwealth, or federal court within the commonwealth, to enforce the unclaimed property laws of such other sta…

Section 12. (a) The treasurer may at any reasonable time and upon reasonable notice examine the records of any person to determine if said person has complied with the provisions of the chapter. In the event such person refuses to permit the treasurer to examine such records, the…

Section 13. All agreements to pay compensation to recover or assist in the recovery of property reported under section seven made within twenty-four months after the date payment or delivery is made under section eight A are unenforceable. Such an agreement made more than twenty-…

Section 13A. The treasurer is hereby authorized to make necessary rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this section.

Section 13B. The treasurer is hereby empowered to extend the date for filing of a report and turning over property for a period up to two months upon written request of a holder if he deems such extension is warranted. Where such extension is granted the requirement for notice an…

Section 14. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to affect the provisions of section thirteen of chapter eighteen; section six of chapter one hundred and fifteen A; section seven, eight and nine of chapter one hundred and twenty-two; section twenty-seven of chapter one hund…

Section 15. If during any session of the legislature there are insufficient funds in the Unclaimed Property Fund to pay all the claims which have been allowed by the state treasurer or ordered to be paid by the court, the treasurer may incur expenses and the comptroller may certi…

Section 15A. The payment or delivery of any property except property other than cash, whether or not payable or deliverable under this chapter, to the treasurer by any holder shall terminate any legal relationship between the holder and the owner and shall release and discharge s…

Section 15B. The holder of an interest under section five B shall deliver a duplicate certificate or other evidence of ownership if the holder does not issue certificates of ownership to the treasurer. Upon delivery of a duplicate certificate to the treasurer, the holder and any …

Section 15C. In connection with property heretofore or hereinafter reportable or reportable under this chapter, no holder may impose any charges in respect of dormancy or inactivity on a savings or checking account or cease payment of interest unless:— (1) such charges and such c…

Section 15D. (1) If the holder pays or delivers property to the treasurer in good faith and thereafter another person claims the property from the holder or another state claims the money or property under its laws relating to escheat or abandoned or unclaimed property, the commo…

Section 16. All provisions of the General Laws inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.

Section 17. If any section or clause of this chapter is held invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction the remainder shall not be affected thereby.

Section 1A. Unless otherwise provided, intangible personal property is presumed abandoned under this chapter if the conditions for presumption of abandonment stated in section three, four, five, five A, five B, six A, six B or six D exist, and if any one of the following four con…

Section 2. (a) Property which has been bequeathed to any person, shall be presumed abandoned, if not claimed by that person or his heirs, legatees or distributees within three years after the death of the testator unless the will makes provision in case of a lapse, failure or rej…

Section 3. Any deposit of property with a person having a residence or place of business in the commonwealth, or authorized to do business therein, together with the increments thereon, shall be presumed abandoned unless the owner has, within three years next preceding the date a…

Section 3A. The abandonment period of any property set forth in section three that is automatically renewable shall commence upon the expiration of its initial time period except that, in the case of any renewal to which the owner consents at or about the time of renewal by commu…

Section 4. Subject to the provisions of section one A, any deposit of property made to secure payment for services rendered or to be rendered, or to guarantee the performance of service or duties, or to protect against damage or harm, and the increments thereof, shall be presumed…

Section 5. Subject to the provision of section one A, all intangible personal property not otherwise presumed to have been abandoned under any other section of this chapter, including but not limited to all certificates of ownership, dividends, stocks, bonds, money, drafts and cl…

Section 5A. (a) Subject to the provisions of section one A, funds held or owing by a life insurance company under any life or endowment insurance policy or annuity contract which has matured or terminated shall be presumed abandoned if unclaimed and unpaid for more than three yea…

Section 5B. (a) Subject to section one A, 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 patro…

Section 5C. All employee benefit trust distributions and any income or other increment thereon shall be presumed abandoned if the owner within three years after it becomes payable or distributable has not accepted the distribution, corresponded in writing concerning the distribut…

Section 5D. A gift certificate, as defined in section 1 of chapter 255D, sold or offered to be sold shall be valid for not less than 7 years after its date of issuance. The date of issuance and the expiration date shall be clearly identified on its face, subject to section 75C of…

Section 6. Monies paid into any court within the commonwealth for distribution, and the increments thereof, shall be presumed abandoned if not claimed within three years after the date of payment into court, or as soon after the three year period as all claims filed in connection…

Section 6A. All property distributable in the course of a voluntary or involuntary dissolution or liquidation of a person that remains unclaimed by the person entitled thereto, within one year after the date of final distribution or liquidation, shall be presumed abandoned. This …

Section 6B. (a) Subject to the provisions of section one A and subsection (b) of this section, any sum payable on a certified check, draft, cashier's check, treasurer's check, registered check, money order, traveler's check, or other similar written instrument, other than a third…

Section 6C. (a) Any person that sells in the commonwealth certified checks, drafts, cashier's checks, treasurer's checks, registered checks, traveler's checks, money orders, or other similar written instruments on which such person is directly liable, or that provides such certif…

Section 6D. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, unclaimed property payable or distributable in the course of a demutualization or related reorganization of an insurance company shall be presumed abandoned 3 years after the earlier of: (a) the date of la…

Section 6E. (a) Mineral proceeds includes all obligations to pay resulting from the production and sale of minerals, including net revenue interests, royalties, overriding royalties, production payments, and joint operating agreements. (b) All mineral proceeds that are held or ow…

Section 7. (a) Every person holding property declared by this chapter to be presumed abandoned shall report to the treasurer as provided in this section. (b) The report shall be on a form prescribed by the treasurer and shall include:— (1) Except with respect to traveler's checks…

Section 7A. If the person in possession of property in an amount of one hundred dollars or more presumed abandoned under this chapter has the last known address of the apparent owner which the person's records do not disclose to be inaccurate, the holder shall at least sixty days…

Section 7B. Every person required to file a report under section seven, except holders in possession of property subject to section six C, shall, as to any property for which it has obtained the address of the owner, maintain a record of the name of the owner and last known addre…

Section 8. (a) The treasurer shall cause a notice to be published, not later than March first or, in the case of life insurance companies, September first of the same year following the report, at least once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation w…

Section 8A. (a) A person who has filed a report as provided in section 7 shall, by November 1 or, in the case of life insurance companies and persons holding unclaimed proceeds from demutualization or related reorganization of a life insurance company, May 1, pay or deliver to th…

Section 8B. (a) At any time after property has been paid or delivered to the treasurer under this chapter, another state is entitled to recover the property if:— (1) for property presumed abandoned under clause (b) of section one A because no address of the apparent owner of the …

Section 9. (a) Property which has been surrendered to the state treasurer under provisions of this chapter shall vest in the commonwealth, subject, nevertheless, to provisions of section ten. (b) The treasurer shall proceed with the liquidation of property not earlier than one ye…

Section 9A. (a) In any city, town or district that accepts this section in the manner provided in section 4 of chapter 4, there shall be an alternative procedure for disposing of abandoned funds held in the custody of the city, town or district as provided in this section. (b) An…

Section 1. As used in this chapter, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:— ''Claimant'', a person, other than the lender, who claims to be legally entitled to, or who establishes legal entitlement to, property held …

Section 2. (a) A notice to a lender or claimant under this chapter shall contain: (1) the lender's or claimant's name, if known; (2) the lender's or claimant's address, if known; (3) a description of the property on loan to the museum; (4) the date of the loan, if known, or the a…

Section 3. (a) Unless a written loan agreement provides otherwise, a museum may apply conservation measures to, or dispose of, undocumented property or property on loan to the museum without the lender's or claimant's permission or notice to the lender or claimant if: (1) immedia…

Section 4. (a) Unless a written loan agreement provides otherwise, a museum may give notice of the museum's intent to terminate a loan of property at any time if: (1) the property was loaned to the museum for an indefinite term; or (2) the property was loaned to the museum for a …

Section 5. Property in the possession of a museum for which the museum does not know, and has no reasonable means of determining, the identity of the lender or claimant shall become the property of the museum if no person has claimed the property within 7 years after the museum c…

Section 6. (a) Unless a written loan agreement exists between the parties, no action for damages shall be brought against a museum or the museum's employees, agents, officers or trustees because of injury, damage to or loss of property loaned to the museum more than 2 years after…

Section 7. (a)(1) A museum accepting a loan of property shall inform the lender, in writing, of the provisions of this chapter at the time the loan is made. A copy of this chapter or a citation to this chapter within the loan agreement shall satisfy the requirements of this subse…

Section 8. This chapter shall not be construed to abrogate the rights and obligations of a lender, claimant or museum identified in a written agreement. This chapter shall not preclude a museum from using any other statutory or judicial method of establishing or perfecting title …

Section 1. As used in this chapter the following words shall, unless the context requires otherwise, have the following meanings:— ''Adult'', an individual who has attained the age of twenty-one years. ''Broker'', a person lawfully engaged in the business of effecting transaction…