June 2025 │ Legislation & Regulation Update

The Unclaimed Property Legislative Alert

Summary of Legislation — Week Ending June 27, 2025

OREGON:  Enacted SB 146 which (1) requires a personal representative to use best efforts to sell or liquidate any real or personal property and (a) if unable to sell or liquidate the property, allows the personal representative to retain in kind for delivery to the Treasurer, or (b) if real property, to execute and record a deed in accordance with state law; (2) provides right of Treasurer to receive notice for missing devisee; (3) requires personal representative to outline actions taken or to be taken regarding the sale or liquidation of real or personal property; (4) requires personal representative to file a motion, with notice to the Treasurer, if the personal representative is unable to pay or deliver property to the distributee within 30 days after date of entry of judgment of distribution; (5) subjects affiants to same requirements as personal representatives regarding the sale or liquidation of real or personal property; (6) adds definition for “Digital asset”; (7) amends definition for “Intangible Property” to include digital assets; (8) amends definition for “Last-known address”; (9) adds definition for “Owner contact”; (10) provides that digital assets are presumed abandoned three (3) years after the latest owner contact by apparent owner; (11) requires the holder to report and deliver abandoned digital assets in its native form to the treasurer within 30 days of reporting; (12) allows the holder to maintain possession of digital assets where the holder does not have sufficient information to effectuate a transfer; (13) requires the holder to provide notice annually when holder is unable to transfer abandoned digital assets; (14) provides the Treasurer with discretion to decline digital assets that are not freely transferable, are of nominal value, or have value less than expenses and allows Treasurer to prescribe by rule classes or types of digital assets that are exempt from reporting or liquidation; (15) provides the Treasurer with the discretion to direct a holder to liquidate digital assets within 30 days of reporting; (16) limits recourse against the Treasurer and holder for liquidation of digital assets; (17) requires holder to send notice prior to filing and prescribes requirements of notice; (18) requires digital assets listed on an established exchange to be sold at the price listed on the exchange and other digital assets to be sold through any reasonable commercial method; (19) requires the Treasurer to establish administrative procedures for the payment of proceeds received from the sale of digital assets; (20) limits recourse by owner against the Treasurer or holder for any gain in value after liquidation; and (21) requires the Treasurer to sell real property through any reasonable commercial methods and to deposit the proceeds of the sale into the Unclaimed Property and Estates Fund.

RHODE ISLAND: Enacted HB 5740 / SB 867 which revises the definition of “Intangible Property” to include all other intangible property as identified by the administrator.

Summary of Legislation — Week Ending June 6, 2025

COLORADO: Enacted HB 1224 which (1) clarifies treatment of legacy preneed contracts; (2) adds a definition for “cryptocurrency”, “legacy preneed contract”, “legacy preneed contract beneficiary”, and revises definition of “virtual currency” to include cryptocurrency; (3) provides for a 3 year abandonment period for virtual currency and clarifies the abandonment period for legacy preneed contracts; (4) amends the abandonment period of pension / retirement accounts to three (3) years after it becomes payable / distributable if owner has not accepted the distribution, corresponded in writing concerning the distribution, or otherwise indicated an interest as evidenced by a memorandum or other record on file; (5)  decreases the retention of records requirement for holders from ten (10) to six (6) years; (6) adds a provision to clarify the reporting requirements for unclaimed legacy preneed contracts; (7) provides notice requirements to owner of legacy preneed contract; (8) requires liquidation of virtual currency thirty (30) days prior to reporting and provides safeguards to the holder and administrator regarding liquidation; (9) requires the holder, when unable to liquidate virtual currency, to notify the administrator in writing and explain the reasons why the virtual currency cannot be liquidated and allows the administrator to direct the holder to either (a) transfer the virtual currency to a custodian selected by the administrator or (b) continue to hold the virtual currency until administrator or holder determines that the virtual currency can be liquidated; (10) requires a holder that pays money or property to the administrator to file a claim for reimbursement or return of property, as applicable, within two (2) years of remitting and reporting the payment or delivery of property; (11) reduces the time the administrator may commence an action, proceeding, or examination regarding duty of holder from ten (10) to six (6) years; (12) clarifies the sale or disposition of unclaimed thinly traded securities; (13) authorizes the administrator to issue a warrant or transfer property to an operating account if administrator determines that the state, a county, a municipality or a state governmental agency owns the property; (14) allows the administrator to obtain nonpublic / unredacted documents to establish ownership prior to making payment; (15) limits the compensation to a locator for the recovery of an unclaimed overbid to not exceed 10% of the amount of overbid; (16) deems confidential all records, documents, and information submitted by claimant to determine claim ownership; and (17) eliminates the exemption for local government holders.  

With The Unclaimed Property Legislative Alert Summary of Legislation and Regulation, you receive an overview of the latest information on unclaimed property legislative updates, regulatory changes, and statutory amendments across the United States and Canada. The publicly available information contained herein has been compiled by Kelmar Associates, LLC and does not constitute legal advice or analysis of any kind.  The summary information is generally compiled on a weekly basis, as applicable, and is shared on Kelmar's website each month. For more information, please refer to each state unclaimed property bill.