SB-1013, As Passed House, March 30, 2004                                    

SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE BILL NO. 1013

                                                                             A bill to amend 1995 PA 29, entitled                                              

"Uniform unclaimed property act,"                                           

by amending section 19 (MCL 567.239), as amended by 1997 PA 195,            

and by adding section 8b.                                                   

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

1   Sec. 8b.  (1) Property distributable in the course of the                   

2   demutualization of an insurance company is presumed abandoned as            

3   follows:                                                                    

4       (a) Any funds, 2 years after the date of the                                

5   demutualization, if the funds remain unclaimed and the owner has            

6   not otherwise communicated with the holder or its agent regarding           

7   the property as evidenced by a memorandum or other record on file           

8   with the holder or its agent.                                               

9       (b) Any stock, 2 years after the date of the                                

10  demutualization, if instruments or statements reflecting the                

1   distribution are either mailed to the owner and returned by the             

2   post office as undeliverable or not mailed to the owner because             

3   of an address on the books and records of the holder that is                

4   known to be incorrect and the owner has not otherwise                       

5   communicated with the holder or its agent regarding the property            

6   as evidenced by a memorandum or other record on file with the               

7   holder or its agent.                                                        

8       (2) A holder of unclaimed property described in subsection                  

9   (1) shall file an initial 1-time report of unclaimed                        

10  demutualization proceeds not later than September 1, 2004 for the           

11  1-year period ending December 31, 2003.                                     

12      (3) As used in this section, "demutualization" means the                    

13  payment of consideration for the relinquishment of a mutual                 

14  membership interest in a mutual insurance company, regardless if            

15  undertaken in conjunction with a plan of demutualization,                   

16  liquidation, merger, or other form of reorganization.

17      Sec. 19.  (1) The administrator shall cause a notice to be                  

18  published not later than November 1 of the year immediately                 

19  following the report required by section 18 in a newspaper of               

20  general circulation in the county of this state in which is                 

21  located the last known address of any person named in the                   

22  notice.  If no address is listed or the address is outside this             

23  state, the notice  must shall be published in the county in                

24  which the holder of the property has its principal place of                 

25  business within this state or another county as determined by the           

26  administrator.                                                              

27      (2) The published notice shall be entitled "notice of names                 

1   of persons appearing to be owners of abandoned property" and                

2   contain all of the following:                                               

3       (a) The names, in alphabetical order, of persons listed in                  

4   the report and entitled to notice within the county as specified            

5   in subsection (1).                                                          

6       (b) A statement that information concerning the property may                

7   be obtained by any person possessing an interest in the property            

8   by addressing an inquiry to the administrator.                              

9       (c) A statement informing an owner of property held by the                  

10  administrator on how to file a claim with the administrator to              

11  receive his or her property.                                                

12      (3) The administrator is not required to publish in the                     

13  notice any items of less than $50.00 unless the administrator               

14  considers their publication to be in the public interest.                   

15      (4) This section is not applicable to sums payable on                       

16  travelers checks, money orders, and other written instruments               

17  presumed abandoned under section 5.