When money in the Unclaimed Property Fund has become permanently escheated to the state, the amount thereof shall, on order of the Controller, be transferred to the General Fund. When property other than money held by the Controller or Treasurer in the name of any account in the Unclaimed Property Fund has become permanently escheated to the state, the records of the Controller and Treasurer shall be adjusted to show that such property is held in the name of the General Fund.
§ 1431.Transfer of Permanently Escheated Money to General Fund; Adjustment of Records of Permanently Escheated Property
Title 10. Unclaimed Property · Chapter 5. Escheat Proceedings · Article 4. Permanent Escheat · Last amended 1980 · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 1431 directs the Controller to transfer permanently escheated money from the Unclaimed Property Fund to the General Fund, and requires the Controller's and Treasurer's records for permanently escheated property other than money to be adjusted to show it held in the General Fund's name.
Full Text of § 1431
Plain-English Summary
This section handles the bookkeeping that follows permanent escheat. Once money in the Unclaimed Property Fund has become permanently escheated to the state, the Controller orders it transferred to the General Fund, where it becomes available for the state's general purposes rather than sitting in the account still nominally reserved for a possible claimant.
Property other than money can't move between funds the way cash does, so the section takes a different approach: the Controller and Treasurer adjust their own records to show that the property, whatever account it was held under in the Unclaimed Property Fund, is now held in the name of the General Fund.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to money once it permanently escheats to the state?
On the Controller's order, it is transferred from the Unclaimed Property Fund to the General Fund.
What happens to permanently escheated property that isn't money?
The Controller's and Treasurer's records are adjusted to show that property as held in the name of the General Fund instead of its prior account.
Why does permanent escheat trigger this transfer?
Because permanent escheat under Section 1430 ends the state's provisional custody and makes its title final, so the property no longer needs to stay earmarked for a possible claimant.
Amendment History
Amended by Stats. 1980, Ch. 676, Sec. 69.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 29, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: transfer escheated money general fundcontroller records permanently escheated property