§4338 — Title 50 War and National Defense | U.S. Code

Summary

All rights and interests in eight kinds of property and benefits that vested after December 17, 1941 are taken away if they were not payable to or in the Attorney General’s possession before December 31, 1961. The Attorney General may keep any property rights and collect any income that were payable to or in his possession before December 31, 1961. The law does not take away any part of an interest if the beneficial owner is a natural person who was personally convicted by name in court of murder, ill treatment, deportation for slave labor of prisoners of war, political opponents, hostages, or civilians in occupied territories, or of murder or ill treatment of military or naval persons, or of plunder or wanton destruction without justified military necessity. As soon as possible after the law takes effect, the Attorney General must send written notice to the lawful owner or custodian of any interest that was taken away.

Title 50, §4338

War and National Defense — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Subject to the provisions of subsection (b) hereof, all rights and interests of individuals in estates, trusts, insurance policies, annuities, remainders, pensions, workmen’s compensation and veterans’ benefits vested under this chapter after December 17, 1941, which have not become payable or deliverable to or have not vested in possession in the Attorney General prior to December 31, 1961, are divested: Provided, That the provisions of this section shall not affect the right of the Attorney General to retain all such property rights and interests and to collect all income which is payable to or vested in possession in him prior to December 31, 1961.

(b)Nothing contained in this section shall divest or require the divestment of any portion of any such interest the beneficial owner of which is a natural person who has been convicted personally and by name by a court of competent jurisdiction of murder, ill treatment, or deportation for slave labor of prisoners of war, political opponents, hostages, or civilian population in occupied territories, or of murder or ill treatment of military or naval persons, or of plunder or wanton destruction without justified military necessity.

(c)At the earliest practicable time after the effective date of this Act, the Attorney General shall transmit to the lawful owner or custodian of any interest divested by this section written notice of such divestment.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This chapter, referred to in subsec. (a), was in the original “this Act”, meaning act Oct. 6, 1917, ch. 106, 40 Stat. 411, known as the Trading with the enemy Act, also known as the Trading with the Enemy Act, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 4301 of this title and Tables. The

Effective Date

of this Act, referred to in subsec. (c), probably means the date of enactment of Pub. L. 87–846, which added this section and was approved Oct. 22, 1962. Codification Section was formerly classified to section 41 of the former Appendix to this title prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

§4338 Divestment of Estates, Trusts, Insurance Policies, Annuities, Remainders, Pensions, Workmen’s Compensation and Veterans’ Benefits; Exceptions; Notice of Divestment