Unclaimed property.

Existing law, the Unclaimed Property Law, authorizes the Controller to administer property that has escheated to the state and sets forth procedures whereby a person may file a claim to the property or to the net proceeds from its sale. Existing law specifies that only a person who claims to have been an owner of the property, as defined, may file a claim with the Controller. Existing law defines an "owner" as the person who had legal right to the property prior to its escheat, his or her heirs or estate representative, his or her guardian or conservator, or a public administrator, as specified. This bill would revise the definition of owner to also include a nonprofit civic, charitable, or educational organization that granted a charter, sponsorship, or approval for the existence of the organization that had the legal right to the property prior to its escheat but that has dissolved or is no longer in existence, if the charter, sponsorship, approval, organization bylaws, or other governing documents provide that unclaimed or surplus property shall be conveyed to the granting organization upon dissolution or cessation to exist as a distinct legal entity.