Title 55.1, Title 55.1. Property and Conveyances

Each treasurer shall, every May, furnish to the escheator of his county or city a list of all lands within his district owned by any person who has died in possession of an estate of inheritance (i) intestate and without any known heir or (ii) testate without disposing of all pro…

On receiving a list compiled pursuant to § 55.1-2404, or upon information from any person, in writing and under oath, that any of the conditions described in § 55.1-2404 exists, the escheator shall proceed to hold his inquest to determine whether any land identified has escheated…

The sheriff of the county or city shall summon and return 10 qualified jurors for the inquest, of whom at least seven shall be impaneled as a jury. They shall meet at the courthouse and sit in public and may be adjourned by the escheator from day to day. Every person competent to…

If any person summoned or adjourned as a juror fails to attend according to the summons or adjournment, the escheator shall report such failure to the circuit court having jurisdiction over the county or city in which the land that is the subject of the inquest is located. Such c…

When the inquest is concluded and the verdict concurred in by at least seven of the jurors impaneled such verdict shall be signed by those so concurring and by the escheator. The escheator shall, within 10 days, return the verdict to the clerk's office of the circuit court. After…

When the verdict on an inquest is for the Commonwealth, any person claiming any interest in the lands, whether legal or equitable, may, before the sale of such land, petition the circuit court for redress. The petition shall be accompanied by a bond with good security to pay the …

Upon a petition filed pursuant to § 55.1-2409, the court may impanel a jury to ascertain any facts that may be disputed and may set aside the verdict. The escheator may initiate a new inquest in accordance with § 55.1-2405.

If witnesses are sworn before the court or jury, the court shall, upon request of either party, certify what facts are proved by such witnesses. If the facts cannot be certified, the court shall then certify the evidence of the witnesses. In either case, such certificate shall be…

Pending the petition, the court may commit the lands, or any part thereof, to the claimant, after he has given bond with good security to pay the Commonwealth the rents and profits of such land, if judgment is subsequently entered for the Commonwealth.

If the escheator leases property remaining in his hands, he shall notify and transmit a copy of such lease, if in written form, to the State Treasurer within 30 days and remit the rent proceeds to the State Treasurer as they are received. The escheator shall be answerable to the …

The escheator shall certify to the State Treasurer, within 60 days after the end of a year from the date of such inquest, whether any petition has been filed claiming an interest in the property pursuant to § 55.1-2409, and if such claim is made, he shall certify the decision on …

Every escheator shall, within 60 days after an inquest that finds on behalf of the Commonwealth, transmit to the State Treasurer a certificate showing the number of tracts or lots escheated, the reputed quantity of each parcel, a description sufficient to identify each parcel, an…

If the escheator finds that the escheat of a parcel was improper, for whatever reason, he shall remove the parcel from the certificate transmitted to the State Treasurer pursuant to § 55.1-2415 at any time prior to sale pursuant to § 55.1-2419. The escheator shall state in writin…

In addition to any other remedy provided by law, the Virginia Waste Management Board, pursuant to its authority granted in § 10.1-1402, or the Department of Environmental Quality, shall have recourse against any prior owner or the estate of any prior owner for the costs of cleanu…

The State Treasurer shall cause the contents of the certificate transmitted pursuant to § 55.1-2415 to be published once each week for four consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or city where the inquest was held.

Not less than six months after the publication of the escheator's certificate pursuant to § 55.1-2418, the State Treasurer shall present to the Governor the escheator's certificate and proof of publication, and, if a claim has not been made pursuant to § 55.1-2409, or, if made, h…

A sale agreement for the purchase of escheated property shall include a statement of the purchaser's right to claim a refund pursuant to § 55.1-2438 upon submission to the State Treasurer within 120 days of the sale of satisfactory evidence that the escheated property does not ex…

A. When the escheator sells for cash, he shall certify the purchase and the price to the State Treasurer, who, after determining that such price, deducting the expenses, has been paid into the state treasury and that the expenses of the inquest and sale have been paid to the esch…

A grant of escheated property shall be without warranty and to the following effect: "In consideration of the sum of $____ paid by ________, the Purchaser, into the treasury of the Commonwealth, etc., there is granted without warranty by the Commonwealth to ________, the Purchase…

The State Treasurer shall deliver such grant of escheated property to the Governor, by whom it shall be signed and caused to be affixed with the lesser seal of the Commonwealth. The grant shall then be delivered by the Governor to the Librarian of Virginia, who shall record it, a…

The clerk shall accept for recordation a copy of the grant of escheated property from the Commonwealth that is certified as a true copy by the Librarian of Virginia under § 55.1-2423.

If the purchaser does not pay the purchase money into the state treasury within a reasonable time, any deposit is forfeited, and the State Treasurer may rescind the contract and order a new sale.

The escheator shall file reports with the State Treasurer as required by the State Treasurer by agency directive.

The State Treasurer shall, every May 1, file a report with the Governor containing the name of any escheator who fails to perform any duty required of him by this chapter. If any escheator fails to report to and account with the State Treasurer, or fails to pay into the state tre…

The State Treasurer may at reasonable times and upon reasonable notice examine the records of any escheator, commissioner of the revenue, treasurer, or other person charged with his duties.

The State Treasurer shall not request that the Governor issue a grant for the lands sold to the purchaser, or his heirs or assigns, until the purchase money has been fully paid.

Except as otherwise provided in this section, the escheator shall be entitled to a commission of 10 percent on all proceeds of sales made by him of escheated lands that are paid to him or into the state treasury. Where an escheator is replaced by the appointment and qualification…

An estate vested in a person solely by mortgage or deed of trust shall not escheat or be forfeited to the Commonwealth by reason of the mortgagee or trustee dying without heirs, but any equitable title to lands shall escheat or be forfeited, as the case may be, if the person havi…

If any person holds any escheated land under a lease or has right to any rent or other profit out of such land, he shall hold and enjoy his lease, rent, or other profit, whether such lease or right to rent or other profit is found in the inquest or not.

If any debt of a person who died in possession of such lands that escheated to the Commonwealth, remains unpaid after all the personal estate of such person has been applied to the payment of his debts, the creditor may file his complaint, accompanied with an affidavit that the d…

The escheator shall answer and defend on the part of the Commonwealth any action against him or any petition filed under § 55.1-2409 and shall be allowed the costs incurred by him in such defense.

The residue of a decedent's estate consisting of real property belonging to the Commonwealth, or subject to escheat to the Commonwealth, and any such property abandoned or derelict, or having no rightful owner, may be recovered from any person in possession thereof by an escheato…

When any action is instituted pursuant to § 55.1-2435, the court shall cause a publication to be made once each week for four consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or city in which the proceedings are held, setting forth the nature of the claim, th…

If no person appears and shows that he has title to the property, the court shall order that the residue or other property belongs to the Commonwealth and enforce the collection thereof or of the proceeds of the sale of such property, provided, however, that if the residue or oth…

A. If within 120 days from the date of sale, a purchaser submits evidence satisfactory to the State Treasurer that the property described in the grant does not exist or was improperly escheated, the State Treasurer may refund the purchase price, less the expenses of sale and the …

The State Treasurer shall adopt any necessary regulations in accordance with the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.) to carry out the provisions of this chapter.

The first section of Chapter 114 of the Code of 1849, and the sections following that to the seventeenth section, inclusive, of such chapter; the act passed April 12, 1852 (Chapter 18, Acts 1852); the act passed April 7, 1858 (Chapter 39, Acts 1858); and the Acts of 1857-8, as am…

Notwithstanding any provision contained in this chapter, the Commissioner of Highways or any locality or other political subdivision or agency of the Commonwealth possessing the power of eminent domain, for a public purpose in accordance with the law and notwithstanding the pende…