§ 1444.5.Money Or Property On Deposit With County Treasurer Received From Public Administrator Deemed Permanently Escheated to State
Title 10. Unclaimed Property · Chapter 6. Disposition of Unclaimed Property · Article 1. Estates of Deceased Persons · Enacted 1957 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 1444.5 deems small sums of $50 or less per estate or creditor, left with a county treasurer by a public administrator or coroner and unclaimed for 15 years or more, to be permanently escheated to the state, and lets the county treasurer pay them to the State Treasury in a lump sum without a separate report or court order for each one.
Full Text of § 1444.5
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Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any money on deposit with the county treasurer of a county received from a public administrator of the county in trust and to the account of the estate of a deceased person or the creditor of a deceased person, in an amount of fifty dollars ($50) or less as to any one estate or creditor, and not covered by a decree of distribution, which was received or remained on hand after the final accounting in such deceased person's estate and the discharge of such public administrator as representative of the estate, and where the money has so remained on deposit in trust for a period of 15 years or more unclaimed by any heir, devisee or legatee of such deceased person, or by any creditor having an allowed and approved claim against the deceased person's estate remaining unpaid, shall be deemed permanently escheated to the State of California. The total of any such moneys so held in trust unclaimed for such period may be paid in a lump sum by the county treasurer, from such funds as he may have on hand for the purpose, to the State Treasurer, at the time of the next county settlement after the effective date of this section, or at any county settlement thereafter. Such lump sum payment may be made by designating it to have been made under this section, without the necessity of any further report or statement of the estates or claimants concerned, without the necessity of any order of court, and without being subject to the provisions of Section 1311 or 1312. Upon receipt by the State Treasurer, any permanently escheated money received by him under this section shall forthwith be deposited in the School Land Fund, subject only to the rights of minors and persons of unsound mind saved to them by Section 1430.
This section shall also apply in all respects to any money on deposit with a county treasurer received from the coroner of the county in trust and to the account of a deceased person, and any such money shall be held, deemed permanently escheated, reported and paid over in like manner as hereinabove set forth.
Plain-English Summary
Some estates leave behind only a trickle of money, $50 or less, too small to justify the individual reporting and court-order process this title otherwise requires. This section gives those small sums their own streamlined path. Money a county treasurer holds in trust from a public administrator, tied to a specific decedent's estate or an unpaid creditor's claim, and never covered by a decree of distribution, is deemed permanently escheated to the state once it has sat unclaimed for 15 years or more after the estate's final accounting and the administrator's discharge.
Because these are small, cumulative amounts, the section lets the county treasurer bundle them into a single lump-sum payment to the State Treasurer, made at the next county settlement or any settlement after that, without filing a separate report for each estate or claimant, without a court order, and without going through the usual notice-to-Controller procedures in Sections 1311 and 1312. The money lands in the School Land Fund, though minors and persons of unsound mind keep whatever claim rights Section 1430 preserves. The same streamlined treatment applies to comparable small sums a county treasurer holds from a coroner.
Frequently Asked Questions
What dollar threshold triggers this streamlined escheat treatment?
Fifty dollars or less held as to any one estate or creditor.
How long must the money sit unclaimed before it counts as permanently escheated under this section?
Fifteen years or more, measured from after the estate's final accounting and the public administrator's discharge.
Does the county treasurer need a court order to pay this money to the state?
No. Section 1444.5 lets the treasurer make a lump-sum payment without a court order or a separate report for each estate or claimant.
Where does this money go once the State Treasurer receives it?
Into the School Land Fund, subject to the claim rights Section 1430 preserves for minors and persons of unsound mind.
Does this section apply only to money from a public administrator?
No. It applies in the same way to comparable small sums a county treasurer holds in trust from a coroner.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1957, Ch. 1375.
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:small estate deposits permanently escheatedpublic administrator fifty dollars unclaimed 15 years