by Doreen Martel

Created on: November 14, 2011   Last Updated: May 03, 2012

The State of Hawaii's Unclaimed Property Law as defined in HRS 523A explains that various entities must report unclaimed property to the state on an annual basis. Financial assets, excluding real estate, must be reported after different periods of time based on the  schedule provided by Hawaii.  Unclaimed property laws in Hawaii are designed to protect owners as well as heirs of property that is considered abandoned.

What is unclaimed property?

Unclaimed property is any financial property, including the contents of safe deposit boxes, that is held by government agencies, companies, non-profit organizations and other agencies where the holder cannot locate the property owner. Owners may have moved out of the state, passed away or may be in assisted living facilities.

Depending on the asset, the holder of the property has a specified amount of time to report the property as abandoned.  Once the property is reported to the State of Hawaii, it is held by the state as custodian for the benefit of the rightful owner or the heirs or estate of the owner.

Holder obligations

Entities who are holding assets that they believe to be abandoned cannot simply turn over the property to the State of Hawaii without first attempting to contact the rightful owner.  All business owners who have been unable to contact the owner of property must provide notification to the last known address that their intention is to escheat the property to the State of Hawaii. This written notice must be kept as part of the holder’s records.

Provided that the proper notification has been sent, the holder must file a report with the State of Hawaii not later than November 1 delineating the property information. Information about the property includes (a) type of property, (b) owner name, (c) last known address of owner and (d) tax identification number (where applicable) of owner. Once this has been done, the following May 1 is the deadline for turning the assets over to the State of Hawaii.

Schedule of escheatment

Property that is considered abandoned follows a specified schedule explained in Hawaii Statute §523A-3.  The statute states that most property is considered unclaimed if the original account owner has not been in contact with the account holder for a period of five years. There are exceptions, including utility deposits and wages which are considered abandoned after only one year.  In addition, traveler’s checks are not considered abandoned unless left uncashed for a period of 15 years.

Like all states, the State of Hawaii does not charge account owners any fee to reclaim property. These rights are extended to the heirs of the original account holder as well as the estate of the owner.  Those who file a claim will be responsible for providing documentation proving their rights to claim the property, as well as a tax identification information for the claimant.

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