07 February 2017

Delaware governor signs bill that significantly changes state's unclaimed property laws

On February 2, 2017, Delaware Governor John Carney signed Senate Bill 13 (SB 13) to amend the state's unclaimed property laws in response to the recent ruling in Temple-Inland, Inc. and to adopt various sections of the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (RUUPA) last July. Key changes contained in SB13 include the following:

— Establish a 10-year record retention requirement and statute of limitations coupled with a 10-year plus dormancy look-back period both while under examination and under Delaware's voluntary disclosure agreement (VDA) program

— Establish a due diligence mailing requirement for general ledger-type property

— Allow holders currently undergoing an audit to convert an older examination (before July 22, 2015) to a VDA

— Create two new concepts: The "verified report" and the "compliance review," which appear to inquire into a suspected deficient annual compliance report and a desk audit, respectively

— Delay resolution of Delaware's unclaimed property estimation and sampling techniques (until July 1, 2017), which the court found lacking in Temple-Inland

— Revise the definition of "last-known address" to only require the state to be identified in a holder's books and records

— Mandate the assessment of interest and provide Delaware the right to waive interest only by 50%

Provisions of SB 13 took effect upon the governor's signature, unless otherwise specified.

The attached document provides an in-depth summary of these changes.

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Contact Information
For additional information concerning this Alert, please contact:
 
State and Local Taxation Group
Bob Bazata(212) 360-9267
Sarah Toi(203) 674-3759
Aurianne Lopatka(617) 585-0934

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ATTACHMENT

Key changes contained in SB13

Document ID: 2017-0260