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 4.04 - Claims Process
Universal Citation: 960 MA Code of Regs 960.4
Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024
(1) Issuance of a Claim Form.
(a) Claim forms shall only be issued to
persons identified by Division staff as having a valid interest in a certain
property/properties. A person shall be declared as having an interest in the
property if he/she if one of the following:
1.
the original owner or an officer of a corporation or business which is
anoriginalowner or legal successor;
2. a person with a court appointment, such as
an administrator/trix or executor/trix;
3. a person duly appointed as the power of
attorney for the original owner;
4.
a guardian, trustee, conservator or other court-appointed legal
representative;
5. an individual
who has petitioned a court of proper jurisdiction for appointment as the legal
representative of the original owner
(b) Prior to the issuance of a claim form, an
employee of the Division must verify the original owner's address and
SocialSecurity/Federal Tax Identification Number (TIN), unless such claim is
for a piece of property which may have been reported to the Division in
"aggregate" form or the Division has no record of the original owner's name
and/or address or Social Security/TIN.
(c) The Division will not issue a claim form
prior to the receipt of the Social Security/TIN and current mailing address of
any individual or entity claiming property held by the Division.
(d) In the case of a person claiming property
on behalf of an estate, that person must provide the Division with the Tax
Identification Number (TIN) of the estate or his/her own Social Security
number, and not the Social Security number of the deceased.
(2) Required Documentation for Claims
(a)
Claims by Original Owner:
1. For cash claims valued between $0 and
$4,999 - signature of claimant and/or co-owner, date of signature and Social
Security/TIN number of claimant; holder certification, if applicable; proof of
former residence, if reported; passbook or monthly statement, if applicable;
original check or surety bond, if applicable; and other documentation as may be
required by the Division to substantiate the validity of the claim.
2. For cash claims valued $5,000 and greater
- signature of claimant and/or co-owner, date of signature and
SocialSecurity/FEIN number of claimant; holder certification; proof of former
residence, if reported; passbook or monthly statement, if applicable; original
check or surety bond, if applicable; and other documentation as may be required
by the Division to substantiate the validity of the claim.
3. For aggregate cash claims - signature of
claimant and/or co-owner; date of signature and Social Security/TIN number of
claimant; holder certification; and other documentation as may be required by
the Division to substantiate the validity of the claim.
4. For shares of stock or mutual funds
(except for undeliverable shares and book entry shares) - signature of claimant
and/or co-owner, date of signature and Social Security/TIN number of claimant;
holder certification (unless property was turned over to the Division by a
third-party reporting service), if applicable; proof of former residence, if
reported; original stock certificate(s) or surety bond; lost stock affadavit,
if applicable; monthly statement, if applicable; and other documentation as may
be required by the Division to substantiate the validity of the
claim.
(b)
Claims by Legal Representative of the Owner:
1. For cash claims valued between $0 and
$4,999 - signature of claimant, date of signature and Social Security/TIN
number of claimant; holder certification, if applicable; copy of deceased
owner's death certificate (for joint tenant and joint accounts), if applicable;
copy of original owner's death certificate and certified copy of claimant's
appointment as executor/trix, guardian, administrator, or conservator, if
applicable; copy of claimant's power of attorney, if applicable; copy of
marriage certificate, if applicable; proof of former residence, if reported;
passbook or monthly statement, if applicable; original check or surety bond, if
applicable; and other documentation as may be required by the Division to
substantiate the validity of the claim.
2. For cash claims valued $5,000 and greater
- signature of claimant, date of signature and Social Security/TIN number of
claimant; holder certification; copy of deceased owner's death certificate (for
joint tenant and joint accounts) if applicable; copy of original owner's death
certificate and certified copy of claimant's appointment as executor/trix,
guardian, administrator or conservator, if applicable; original check or surety
bond, if applicable; and other documentation as may be required by the Division
to substantiate the validity of the claim.
3. For aggregate cash claims - signature of
claimant, date of signature and Social Security/TIN number of claimant; holder
certification; copy of deceased owner's death certificate (for joint tenant and
joint accounts), if applicable; copy of original owner's death certificate and
certified copy of claimant's appointment as executor/trix, guardian,
administrator or conservator, if applicable; original check or surety bond, if
applicable; and other documentation as may be required by the Division to
substantiate the validity of the claim.
4. For shares of stock or mutual funds
(except for undeliverable shares and book entry shares) - signature of
claimant, date of signature and Social Security/TIN number of claimant; holder
certification if original shares are not available (unless property was turned
over to the Division by a third-party reporting service), if applicable; copy
of deceased owner's death certificate (for joint tenant and joint accounts), if
applicable; copy of original owner's death certificate and certified copy of
claimant's appointment as executor/trix, administrator, guardian or
conservator, if applicable; copy of claimant's power of attorney, if
applicable; copy of marriage certificate, if applicable; proof of former
residence, if reported; original stock certificate(s) or surety bond; monthly
statement, if applicable; and other documentation as may be required by the
Division to substantiate the validity of the claim. A letter from a transfer
agent or broker stating that the original shares have been confiscated by the
agent per Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations may be submitted
in lieu of the original certificate(s).
(c)
Signature
Requirements - If any property, such as an account, is held
jointly, then the signatures of all original owners, unless one is deceased,
must appear on the claim form before it can be approved at any level within the
Division. If one of the original owners of an account held as a tenant in
common is deceased, the lawful representative of the decedent's estate must
sign the claim form along with the other original owner before it can be
approved at any level within the Division. However, if any property, such as an
account, is held as a joint tenant or "with right of survivorship" (WROS) or as
a joint account, the signature of one of the original owners shall be deemed
sufficient to satisfy the signature requirement before approval of any rightful
claim against the property.
(3) Approval of Claims. Each claim submitted to the Division must receive three levels of approval on the UPS System prior to payment.
(a) Level One approval shall first be
required from the Division staff person(s) who sent out the original claim
form. This approval shall be given if it is determined that the claimant has
submitted all documentation requested when the claim form was sent out from the
Division. If any documentation is missing when a claim form is sent to the
Division for approval, the claim form shall be returned to the claimant by the
Division staff person who originally sent it out with a letter explaining what
documentation is missing from the claimant's submission. Level One approval
shall then be entered into the UPS System only if all required documentation is
subsequently submitted by the claimant.
(b) Level Two approval shall be required from
the Division staff person(s) designated to approve claims at such level. This
person shall closely inspect all Level One claims and determine whether the
proper documentation was requested and received. If either of these two
criteria are not met, the claim shall be rejected in the UPS System and
returned to the Level One staff person who originally sent out the claim form
to effect the necessary changes, and shall not be entered into the UPS System
as approved at Level Two until the Level One approval of the claim has been
judged to be complete and accurate. Level Two staff persons shall also have
Level One approval authority (along with the ability to send out claims).
However, no Level Two staff person shall approve the same claim at both Level
One and Level Two of the claims approval process.
(c) Level Three approval shall be required
from the Division staffperson(s)designated to approve claims at this level.
This person shall verify that all documentation requested is in order, and that
Level One and Level Two approvals have been property granted. Level Three
approval shall then be entered into the UPS System.
(4) Payment of Claims.
(a) In the case of cash
claims, Level Three approval shall result in the electronic transfer of the
claims approval data to the Office of the State Comptroller, where the
individual claims shall be paid by check.
(b) In the case of stock and mutual fund
claims, Level Three approval shall result in a letter being sent to a
third-party agent responsible for the transfer of ownership of the
stocks/mutual funds, instructing the agent to have ownership of the appropriate
number of shares of the property reregistered in the name of the
claimant.
(5) Reimbursements. In the case of a reimbursement requested by a holder due to property having been sent to the Division in error, Level Three approval shall be granted by the Division within 60 days of the receipt by the Division of all documentation which may be required by the Division to substantiate the validity of the reimbursement request.
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