Chapter 12

COL12010615GCA ESTATES AND PROBATE CH.12ESCHEAT 1CHAPTER 12 ESCHEAT § 1201. Grounds for Escheat; Charges and Trusts on Escheated Property . § 1203. Money Held in Certain Trust Funds Not to Escheat. § 1205. Escheat of Real Property . § 1207. Escheat of Tangible Personal Property, Wherever Located. § 1209. Escheat of Decedent's Tangible Personal Property Which is Subject to Administration; Claim of Another Jurisdiction. § 1211. Escheat of Intangible Personal Property of Decedent Who was Domiciled in Guam. § 1213. Escheat of Decedent's Intangible Personal Pr operty Which is Subject to Administration; Claim of Another Jurisdiction. § 1201. Grounds for Escheat; Charges and T rusts on Escheated Property . (a) If a decedent, whether or not domiciled in Guam at the time of death, leaves no one to take his estate or any portion thereof by testate succes sion, and no one other than a government, governmental subdivi - sion or gover nment agency to take his estate or any portion thereof by intestate succession, under the laws of Guam or of any other jurisdiction, such pro perty escheats at the time of such decedent's death in accor danc e with the provisions of this Chapter .

hereof by intestate succession, under the laws of Guam or of any other jurisdiction, such pro perty escheats at the time of such decedent's death in accor danc e with the provisions of this Chapter . (b) Property passing to the Government of Guam under the provisions of this Chapter, whether held by the Govern ment of Guam or its officers, is subj ect to the same charges and trusts to which it would have been subject if passed by succession, and is also subject to the applicable provisions of the law of Guam relating to escheated estates. SOURCE: California Probate Code, § 231(a) and (b) (as amende d). COMMENT : Escheat was covered under § 231 of the Probate Code of Guam (1970). Section 231 was very terse, and in the opinion of the Commission was not sufficient adequate lyto cover the field of escheat. Therefore, the Commission has extensively rewrit ten the law of escheat, basically following the model of §§ 231 - 236 of the Califor nia Probate Code. The Commission is indebted to the California Law Revision Commission for some of the Comments which follow the various Sections in this Chapter.

model of §§ 231 - 236 of the Califor nia Probate Code. The Commission is indebted to the California Law Revision Commission for some of the Comments which follow the various Sections in this Chapter. Section 1201 (prior § 231) has been revised to conform with the succeeding provisions of Chapter 12, which have been added to pro vide concrete rules for COL12010615GCA ESTATES AND PROBATE CH.12ESCHEAT 2determining whether a decedent's property escheats to the Govern ment of Guam. In subsection (a) of § 1201, th e words Awhether or not domiciled in Guam at the time of death@have been included to make it clear that Chapter 12 governs escheat of property belonging to nondomiciliary dece dents as well as to domiciliaries. Under the law of some jurisdictions, propert y does not escheat in the sense that it does under Guam law and most other Anglo -American jurisdic tions. Instead, the government inherits the property when there is no collateral kindred of the decedent within a specified degree of kinship. The language o f subsection (a) of § 1201 makes it clear that the claim of such a jurisdic tion will not preclude an escheat that would otherwise occur under Guam law .

a specified degree of kinship. The language o f subsection (a) of § 1201 makes it clear that the claim of such a jurisdic tion will not preclude an escheat that would otherwise occur under Guam law . Subsection (b) of § 1201, although its language has been revised in conformity with the California sta tute for the sake of clarity , essentially carries over the provisions of prior § 231 into this Title. § 1203. Money Held in Certain T rust Funds Not to Escheat . Notwithstanding any other provision of law , a benefit consisting of moneys or other property di stributable from a trust established under a plan providing health and welfare, pension, vacation, severance, retirement benefit, death benefit, unemploy ment insurance or similar benefits shall not pass or escheat to the Government of Guam, but shall go to the trust or fund from which distributable. If, howev er, such plan has terminated and the trust or fund has been distributed to the beneficiaries thereof prior to distribution of such benefit from the decedent's estate, such benefit shall pass and esche at to the Government of Guam as provided in Section 1201 of this Title.

o the beneficiaries thereof prior to distribution of such benefit from the decedent's estate, such benefit shall pass and esche at to the Government of Guam as provided in Section 1201 of this Title. SOURCE: California Probate Code, § 231(c), as amend ed. COMMENT : Section 1203 exempts from the general law of escheat certain property rights belonging to the decedent. The distributi on scheme set forth in § 1203 seems fair and reasonable, as it means that the benefi ciaries of the decedent's property held in certain trust funds will be others similarly situated --i.e., other contributors to such plans --rather than the govern ment. The only time that this distribution will not occur is set forth in the second sentence of § 1203: such property will escheat if the trust fund in question no longer exists. Under such circumstanc es, there will be no one who has even a remote interest in the dece dent's property; this being the case, escheat is appro priate. § 1205. Escheat of Real Property . Real property in Guam escheats to the Government of Guam in accordance with the provisions of Sec tion 1201 of this Title. SOURCE: California Probat e Code, § 233. § 1207.

Escheat of Real Property . Real property in Guam escheats to the Government of Guam in accordance with the provisions of Sec tion 1201 of this Title. SOURCE: California Probat e Code, § 233. § 1207. Escheat of T angible Personal Proper ty, Wherev er Located.COL12010615GCA ESTATES AND PROBATE CH.12ESCHEAT 3All tangible personal property owned by the decedent, wherever located at the decedent's death, that was cus tomarily kept in Guam prior to the decedent's death, escheats to theGovernment of Guam in accordance with the provisions of Section 1201 of this Title. SOURCE: California Probate Code, § 233. COMMENT : The property described in § 1207 escheats to the government even though it might have been temporari lyremoved from G uam at the time of the decedent's death. Some examples of the kind of property re ferred to are: property usually kept at his residence by a resident of Guam; property usually kept at a vacation home in Guam by a nonresident of Guam; and property used in c onnection with a busi ness located in Guam. Section 1207 does not cover tangible personal property brought to Guam tempo rarily.

vacation home in Guam by a nonresident of Guam; and property used in c onnection with a busi ness located in Guam. Section 1207 does not cover tangible personal property brought to Guam tempo rarily. However, the length of time that the property was in Guam prior to the decedent's death is not necessari ly determinative of its customary location. If a dece dent had recently moved to Guam and established a permanent residence here, the personal property usually kept at such residence would be Acustomarily kept in Guam @even though it had been so kept onlyfor a brief period of time. § 1209. Escheat of Decedent's T angible Per sonal Property Which is Subject to Administration; Claim of An other Jurisdiction. (a) Subject to the provisions of subsection (b) of this Section, all tangible personal property owned by the decedent that is subject to the control of the Superior Court of Guam for pur poses of administration and disposition under Division 3 of this Title escheats to the Govern ment of Guam in accor dance with the provisions of Section 1201 of this Title. (b) The property de scribed in subsection (a) of this Section does not escheat to the Government of Guam but goes to another

of Guam in accor dance with the provisions of Section 1201 of this Title. (b) The property de scribed in subsection (a) of this Section does not escheat to the Government of Guam but goes to another juris diction if such jurisdiction claims such property and establishes that: (1) Such other jurisdiction is entitled to such property under its laws; (2) The decedent customarily kept such property in such jurisdiction prior to the decedent's death; and (3) The Government of Guam has the right to escheat and take tangible personal property being administered as part of a decedent's estate in such jurisd iction if such decedent customarily kept such property in Guam prior to such decedent's death. SOURCE: California Probate Code, § 234. COMMENT : Subsection (a) of § 1209 covers all tangible personal property , whether or not it was temporarily located in Gu am. It may also apply to tangible COL12010615GCA ESTATES AND PROBATE CH.12ESCHEAT 4person al property that was brought to Guam after the decedent's death. Subsec tion (a), however, is made subject to subsec tion (b), to permit a State or other jurisdiction where the property was usually kept by the deced ent to claim the property

the decedent's death. Subsec tion (a), however, is made subject to subsec tion (b), to permit a State or other jurisdiction where the property was usually kept by the deced ent to claim the property if it wishes to do so. Note, however, that the conditions of subsec tion (b) make it clear that Guam will not surrender any proper tyto the State or other jurisdiction in which it was usually kept unless that State or jurisdictio n would recognize Guam's claim under § 1207 to property found within that State or jurisdiction. Subsection (b) of § 1209 requires the State or other jurisdiction claiming the property to establish the matters listed under subsec tions (b)(1), (2) and (3) . Thus, the State or other jurisdiction must be able to demonstrate that, under the statutory or decisional law of that State or other jurisdiction, Guam has a recipro cal right to escheat property located in that State or other jurisdiction. If the State or other jurisdiction cannot show that Guam has such a reciprocal right --if its law is inconclusive --it has not established the matters required by subsections (b) (1), (2) and (3), and the property thus escheats to the Govern ment of Guam under subse

reciprocal right --if its law is inconclusive --it has not established the matters required by subsections (b) (1), (2) and (3), and the property thus escheats to the Govern ment of Guam under subse ction (a) of § 1209. § 121 1. Escheat of Intangible Personal Proper ty of Decedent Who was Domiciled in Guam. All intangible property owned by the decedent escheats to the Govern ment of Guam in accor dance with the provisions of Section 1201 of this Title if the decedent was domiciled in Guam at the time of the decedent's death. SOURCE: California Probate Code, § 235. COMMENT : The property referred to in § 1211 in cludes, for example, debts owed to the decedent, bank accounts, promissory notes, shares of c orporate stock, dividends, wage claims, and beneficial interests in trusts. Section 1211 neither contains nor recognizes any limitation on the intangible property that escheats under its provisions. If the property was owned by a Guam domicil iary, it esch eats to the Government of Guam wherever the obligor may be located and wherever the obligation might have been incurred. § 1213. Escheat of Decedent's Intangible Personal Property Which is Subject to Adminis tration; Claim of An

m wherever the obligor may be located and wherever the obligation might have been incurred. § 1213. Escheat of Decedent's Intangible Personal Property Which is Subject to Adminis tration; Claim of An other Jurisdiction. (a) Sub ject to the provisions of subsection (b) of this Section, all intangible property owned by the decedent that is subject to the control of the Superior Court of Guam for purposes of adminis tration and disposi tion under Division 3 of this Title escheats to theGovern ment of Guam in accordance with the provisions of Section 1201 of this Title whether or not the decedent was domi ciled in Guam at the time of the decedent's death. COL12010615GCA ESTATES AND PROBATE CH.12ESCHEAT 5(b) The property described in subsection (a) of this Section does not escheat tothe Government of Guam but goes to another juris diction if the other jurisdiction claims such property and establishes that: (1) Such other jurisdiction is entitled to such property under its laws; (2) The decedent was domiciled in such jurisdic tion a t the time of the decedent's death; and (3) The Government of Guam has the right to escheat and take intangible property being adminis tered as part of a

ecedent was domiciled in such jurisdic tion a t the time of the decedent's death; and (3) The Government of Guam has the right to escheat and take intangible property being adminis tered as part of a decedent's estate in such jurisdiction if such decedent were domiciled in Guam at the time of such dec edent's death. SOURCE: California Probate Code, § 236. COMMENT : Under subsection (a) of § 1213, for example, even if the decedent were domi ciled in another State or jurisdic tion, the decedent's Guam bank account escheats to the Govern ment of Guam. Subs ection (a), howev er, is subject to the provisions of subsec tion (b), which permits the State or other juris diction of the decedent's domicile to claim the property if it wishes to do so. However, the conditions of subsec tion (b) make it clear that Gua m will not relinquish such property to the State or other jurisdic tion of domicile unless that State or other jurisdiction would recog nize Guam's claim under § 1211 to escheat intangi bles subject to that State's or jurisdic tion's jurisdic tion. Subsec tion (b) of § 1213 requires the State or other jurisdiction claiming the property to establish the matters listed in

heat intangi bles subject to that State's or jurisdic tion's jurisdic tion. Subsec tion (b) of § 1213 requires the State or other jurisdiction claiming the property to establish the matters listed in subsections (b)(1), (2) and (3). Thus, the State or other jurisdiction must be able to demon strate that, under its statutory or decisional law, Guam has a reciprocal right to escheat intan gibles subject to the jurisdiction of that State or other jurisdiction. If the State or other jurisdiction cannot show that Guam has such a reciprocal right --if its law is inconclusive --it has not esta blished the matters required by subsection (b) and the property escheats to Guam under subsection (a). ----------