Code of Massachusetts Regulations
960 CMR - OFFICE OF THE STATE TREASURER AND RECEIVER GENERAL
Title 960 CMR 4.00 - Procedures For The Administration Of Abandoned Property
Section 4.02 - Definitions
Unless otherwise enumerated below, all definitions associated with 960 CMR 4.00 shall be the definitions outlined in M.G.L. c. 200A.
Activity: Action taken by an owner with respect to his or her property which indicates that the owner intends for the property not to be presumed abandoned. Examples of owner activity include, but are not limited to: an owner-initiated deposit or withdrawal or posting of interest on a piece of property, such as a savings or checking account; notification to a holder of change of owner address; payment of an installment loan, such as a mortgage, equity loan or automobile loan; payment of a safe deposit box rental fee; and any action, such as written correspondence, e-mail message, fax, telephone call or person-to-person conversation between an owner and a holder or his/her representative, which can be documented so as to indicate an owner's interest in his or her property not being presumed abandoned.
Administrator/trix: A person appointed by a court to settle the estate of a person for whom no last will and testament has been admitted to a probate court of competent jurisdiction.
Agent: A person or entity that conducts an abandoned property examination/audit on behalf of the Treasurer.
Aggregate Property: Intangible property with a value of less than $100.00 which has been sent to the State Treasury by a holder in a "lump sum" pursuant to M.G.L. c. 200A, § 7(b)(3), or property with a value of $100.00 or greater for which a holder does not have the name or address of the owner in its records.
AP-1 Form: A form prescribed by the Treasurer for the annual reporting of abandoned property.
Assistant Treasurer: The Assistant Treasurer for Abandoned Property.
Book Entry Shares: Electronic form of holding shares between a depository and a participant.
Burial Account: An account opened for the purpose of paying the final expenses associated with a funeral. In most cases, burial accounts are pre-paid and are held in custody by a funeral director.
Claimant: A person(s) or legal entity legally entitled to claim abandoned property held in custody by the Abandoned Property Division. A claimant may be an original owner or the court- appointed representative of an original owner or his/her estate.
Commercial Customer: Any person who maintains a current, multiple transaction, commercial relationship with a vendor in the conduct of the person's business within Massachusetts or through a vendor conducting business in Massachusetts. No individual purchasing goods or services in his/her capacity as a consumer at retail shall be considered a commercial customer.
Conservator: A person who is court-appointed to legally hold, manage and safeguard the value of another person's property.
Credit Balances: Outstanding balances that are recorded as current accounts receivable or accounts payable of a holder. The balance must have been generated in the normal and ordinary course of business between the holder and a then current commercial customer.
Director: The Director of Auditing in the Abandoned Property Division.
Division: The Abandoned Property Division.
Dormancy Period: The period of time during which an owner of property takes no action with respect to his or her property, after which the property is presumed abandoned and must be remitted to the Division unless claimed beforehand.
Due Diligence: Written notice sent by a holder after the appropriate dormancy period has elapsed that informs the owner that his/her property will be turned over to the State Treasury as abandoned property unless the owner contacts the holder.
Executor/trix: A person named in a will to administer and carry out the last will and testament of a deceased person.
False or Fraudulent Return: A report issued to the Division and signed by an authorized representative of a holder which contains information known by the authorized representative or other officer involved in the preparation of the report to be false, fraudulent or insufficient as it applies to any material matter contained in the report.
Guardian: A person who has legal responsibility for the care and well-being of another person who is either a minor or incompetent to manage their own affairs.
Heirfinder: A person or entity that, for a fee, assists a property owner in making a claim for abandoned property , or locates the owner of property on behalf of a holder.
Holder: The entity that has custody of abandoned property until it is claimed by the owner of the property or transferred to the Division in accordance with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 200A.
Holder Certification: A written statement from an abandoned property holder certifying that the holder has reported certain abandoned property to the State Treasury.
Insufficient Return: a report issued to the Division and signed by an authorized representative of a holder that is subsequently determined by a review of the Division, its agent, or representative to have under reported the value of the abandoned property by 50% or more of what is ultimately determined to be owed within any individual abandoned property reporting code.
Intangible Property: Money, money orders, checks, drafts, deposits, interest, dividends, income and bonds; credit balances, customer overpayments, gift certificates, security deposits, refunds, credit memos, unpaid wages, unused airline tickets, mineral proceeds and unidentified remittances; stocks and other intangible ownership interests in business associations; money deposited to redeem stocks, bonds, coupons and other securities, or to make distributions; amounts due and payable under the terms of an annuity or insurance policy; amounts distributed from a trust or custodial fund established under a plan to provide any health, pension, vacation, severance, retirement, death, stock purchase, profit sharing, employee savings, supplemental unemployment insurance, or similar benefit, as defined in M.G.L. c. 200A, § 1.
Joint Account: An account payable on request to one or more of two or more parties, whether or not mention is made of any right of survivorship.
Joint Tenant, or With Right of Survivorship (WROS): An original owner who holds property jointly with another original owner(s). When one tenant dies, the entire tenancy remains to the surviving tenant(s).
Legal Representative of the Owner: A person, other than the original owner, claiming property on behalf of the original owner as an executor/trix or administrator/trix of an estate, as a conservator or guardian, or an authorized agent appointed in accordance with a properly-executed power of attorney.
Lessee: The person or persons in whose name or names a safe deposit box stands on the books of a bank or credit union, as the term is used in 960 CMR 4.05.
Merchandise Credit: A credit established for the benefit of a customer emanating from the return of merchandise previously delivered to the customer. This does not include credits emanating from the return of goods by any retail customer.
Negative Report: An abandoned property report filed by a holder in which the holder affirms that it has no property to report to the Division.
Normal and Ordinary Course of Business : The current and ongoing sale of goods or services to the general public and/or to others as part of a vendor's overall business purpose and activity, as well as the purchase of goods and services from a vendor supporting a customer's overall business purpose and activity.
Notarized Signature: Signature of a claimant witnessed by a person who is an official Notary Public (appointed by the property appointing authority in a given state) attesting to the validity of the signature of a person who appears before him/her.
Original Document: The actual written document issued by an authority or government entity legally empowered to issue documents, such as a court, city or town clerk, attorney or any official keeper of records, or any other agreement or understanding legally executed between two or more parties, or any document which is considered an original document pursuant to P.L. 106-229, the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce act (known as "E-SIGN").
Original Owner: A person (or persons) listed in the UPS System as the rightful owner, as reported from the records of the holder of the property.
Owner: A person or entity having a legal or equitable claim to abandoned property.
Power of Attorney: A legal document in which a person gives another person authority to act for him/herself.
Reciprocity Agreement: An agreement between states in which property held in the name of out-of state owners is collected and exchanged.
Surety Bond: Indemnity coverage for the State purchased by an owner before a duplicate security or check is issued to replace one that has been lost. The indemnification guarantees payment if the original security or check is produced at a later date for redemption or payment, by a person other than the original claimant, as a valid claim to the property previously paid by the Division.
Tangible Property: The contents of safe deposit boxes, which are turned over to the Division as abandoned property by a bank pursuant to M.G.L. c. 158, § 17, or by a credit union pursuant to M.G.L. c. 171, § 75, or any other tangible property transferred to the Division as abandoned property in accordance with the terms of M.G.L. c. 200A.
Tenant in Common: An original owner who owns an undivided interest in a piece of property. When the owner dies, his/her interest passes to his/her estate.
True Attested/Certified Copy: Copy of an original document that is issued by a court or other government entity and displays a raised seal and/or original signature of the issuing authority certifying that the copy is a true copy of the original.
Trust: A legal arrangement whereby control of an account or property is transferred to a person or organization (trustee) for the benefit of another person (beneficiary).
UGMA (Uniform Gift to Minors Act) Account: An account opened for the benefit of a minor under the age of 21. Abandoned property from such accounts can only be paid to the appointed trustee in the name of the minor until the minor reaches the age of 21. When a minor beneficiary of a UGMA account reaches the age of 21, any abandoned property held for his/her benefit as a UGMA account shall become his/her sole property. A transfer made in accordance with the Uniform Gift to Minors Act will be treated as a transfer made in accordance with the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA), as codified in M.G.L. c. 201A, except insofar as the application would impair constitutionally vested rights or extend the duration of a custodianship in existence as of January 30, 1987.
Undeliverable Shares: Securities returned by the U.S. Post Office (known as RPO) or any other certified private carrier as undeliverable.
Underlying Shares: Original shares of stock which have been issued by a business association, corporation, banking or financial organization, are not in the possession of the issuer and presumably are in the possession of the owner.
UPS System: The abandoned property records-keeping system maintained by the Division.
UTMA (Uniform Transfers to Minors) Account: An account opened for the benefit of a minor under the age of 21. Abandoned property from such accounts can only be paid to the appointed trustee in the name of the minor until the minor reaches the age of 21, as codified in M.G.L. c. 201A. When a minor beneficiary of a UTMA account reaches the age of 21, any abandoned property held for his/her benefit as a UTMA account shall become his/her sole property.
Vendor: Any person or entity that sells goods or services in the ordinary course of business.
