Title 33
Probate Practice and Procedure

Chapter 21.1
Unclaimed Intangible and Tangible Property

R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-21.1-24

§ 33-21.1-24. Filing of claim with administrator.

(a) A person, excluding another state, claiming an interest in any property paid or delivered to the administrator may file with him or her a claim on a form prescribed by him or her and verified by the claimant.

(b) The administrator shall consider each claim within ninety (90) days after it is filed and give written notice to the claimant if the claim is denied in whole or in part. The notice may be given by mailing it to the last address, if any, stated in the claim as the address to which notices are to be sent. If no address for notices is stated in the claim, the notice may be mailed to the last address, if any, of the claimant as stated in the claim. No notice of denial need be given if the claim fails to state either the last address to which notices are to be sent or the address of the claimant.

(c) If a claim is allowed, the administrator shall pay over or deliver to the claimant the property or the amount the administrator actually received, or the net proceeds if it has been sold by the administrator, together with any additional amount required by § 33-21.1-21. If the claim is for property presumed abandoned under § 33-21.1-10 which was sold by the administrator within three (3) years after the date of delivery, the amount payable for that claim is the value of the property at the time the claim was made or the net proceeds of sale, whichever is greater. If the property claimed was interest bearing to the owner on the date of surrender by the holder, the administrator also shall pay interest at a rate of five percent (5%) a year or any lesser rate the property earned while in the possession of the holder. Interest begins to accrue when the property is delivered to the administrator and ceases on the earlier of the expiration of fifteen (15) years after delivery or the date on which payment is made to the owner. No interest on interest bearing property is payable for any period before the effective date of this chapter.

(d) Any holder who pays the owner for property that has been delivered to the state and which, if claimed from the administrator, would be subject to subsection (c) shall add interest as provided in subsection (c). The added interest must be repaid to the holder by the administrator in the same manner as the principal.

History of Section.
P.L. 1986, ch. 500, § 3.