SB 13

Abstract

This Act continues the reforms enacted over the past 4 years by restructuring Chapter 11 of Title 12, and adopting in substance many provisions from the 2016 Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act promulgated by the Uniform Law Commission. In addition, this Act adopts certain recommendations from the Delaware Unclaimed Property Task Force formed under Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 59 of the 147th General Assembly, and makes significant changes to the State’s unclaimed property law to bring greater predictability, efficiency, and fairness to the State's unclaimed property reporting process and compliance initiatives. More specifically, these changes include reducing the look-back period of all voluntary disclosure agreements and audits to 10 report years, and creating a 10 year statute of limitations for the State to seek payment of unclaimed property due to the State. In addition, this legislation aligns the State’s record retention requirement for companies with the statute of limitations and look back period, which brings State law into conformity with a majority of other states. This Act also offers any company currently under audit prior to July 22, 2015, the opportunity to convert their audit into a voluntary disclosure agreement by entering into the Secretary of State Voluntary Disclosure Agreement program. All companies who received a notice of examination and are currently under audit as of the effective date of this Act will have the opportunity to engage in an expedited audit review process. Finally, this Act mandates that interest be assessed on any late-filed unclaimed property, as a means to incentivize voluntary compliance.