Title 10. Unclaimed Property · Chapter 7. Unclaimed Property Law · Article 2. Escheat of Unclaimed Personal Property · Enacted 2025 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026
(a) Pursuant to Section 1510, any digital financial asset held or owing by a business association escheats to the state if unclaimed by the owner for more than three years from either of the following:
(1) The date a written or electronic communication to the owner is returned undelivered by the United States Postal Service or by electronic mail or other electronic messaging method, as applicable.
(2) The date of the last exercise of an act of ownership interest by the owner in the digital asset account if the owner does not receive written or electronic communications from the holder or the holder does not have the means of systematically tracking or monitoring the nondelivery of those communications.
(b) The running of the three-year period under paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) shall cease immediately upon the exercise of an act of ownership interest in the digital asset account or written, oral, or electronic communication with the holder as evidenced by a memorandum or other record on file with the holder or its agents.
(c) For purposes of this section, an "exercise of an act of ownership interest" includes any of the following actions by the owner regarding the digital asset account:
(1) Conducting a transaction regarding the digital asset account, including buying or selling digital assets, depositing into or withdrawing from the account fiat currency or other property whether by a one-time transaction or a recurring transaction previously authorized by the owner.
(2) Electronically accessing the digital asset account.
(3) Conducting any activity with respect to another digital asset account or any other property owned by the owner with the same holder.
(4) Taking any other action that reasonably demonstrates to the holder that the owner knows that the property exists.
(1) The last known address of an apparent owner, for the purpose of determining the jurisdiction over property subject to escheat pursuant to this section, is either of the following:
(A) The address used for purposes of delivering first-class United States mail.
(B) Any description, code, or other indication of the location of the apparent owner that identifies the state of last known address, even if the description, code, or indication of the location is not sufficient to direct the delivery of first-class United States Postal Service mail to the apparent owner.
(2) If there is a conflict between the address identified in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) and any description, code, or other indication identified in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1), the address identified in subparagraph (A) shall be deemed as the last known address of the apparent owner.
(e) If the business association has a mailing address for the apparent owner of a digital financial asset in its records, which is not known to be inaccurate, the business association shall send a notice to the owner via certified mail, return receipt requested.
(f) If the business association does not have a mailing address for the apparent owner of a digital financial asset in its records, and the apparent owner has consented to electronic service, the notice may be sent electronically.
(g) Notice pursuant to this subdivision shall be sent not less than 6 nor more than 12 months before the time the digital financial asset becomes reportable to the Controller under this chapter.
(1) The notice shall state at the top of the communication: "THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA REQUIRES US TO NOTIFY YOU THAT YOUR UNCLAIMED PROPERTY MAY BE TRANSFERRED TO THE STATE IF YOU DO NOT CONTACT US," or substantially similar language.
(2) The notice shall specify the time when the digital financial asset will escheat and the effects of escheat, including the need to file a claim for the return of the digital financial asset.
(3) The notice shall do all of the following, in boldface type or in a font a minimum of two points larger than the rest of the notice, exclusive of the heading:
(A) Specify that since the date of last interest, or for the last two years, there has been no indication of owner interest in the digital financial asset.
(B) Identify the digital financial asset by number or identifier, which need not exceed four digits.
(C) Indicate that the digital financial asset is in danger of escheating to the state.
(D) Specify that the Unclaimed Property Law requires business associations to transfer a digital financial asset if it has been unclaimed for three years.
(4) The notice shall include a form, prescribed by the Controller, by which the owner may confirm the owner's current address. If that form is completed, signed by the owner, and returned to the holder of the digital financial asset, or other device in which the owner's property is being held, it is no longer considered inactive and the escheat period restarts. In lieu of returning the form, the holder may provide a telephone number or electronic means to enable the owner to contact the holder. If a holder is contacted by a presumed owner by telephone or electronic means, the holder shall document that contact in a memorandum which the holder is required to keep on file. That contact serves to indicate owner interest in the digital financial asset and restarts the escheat period.
(h) In addition to the notice required pursuant to subdivision (b) or (c), the holder may give additional notice at any time between the date of last owner interest and the date the holder transfers the digital financial asset to the Controller.
(i) The holder of any partial key to any digital financial asset that is subject to Section 1516.5 shall attempt to obtain the minimum number of keys required to transfer the digital financial assets within 60 days of determination that the digital financial assets are eligible for escheatment.
Cryptocurrency and similar digital assets do not fit neatly into the deposit-account or securities frameworks this chapter otherwise uses, so Section 1516.5, added for the 2026 statutory year, builds a dedicated rule around them. A digital financial asset escheats after three years measured from either the date a communication to the owner bounced back undelivered, by mail or electronic messaging, or the date of the owner's last exercise of an ownership interest in the account, when the holder does not otherwise receive or track undelivered communications. That three-year clock resets immediately the moment the owner takes any of a list of qualifying actions: transacting in the account, electronically accessing it, engaging with another account or property at the same holder, or otherwise doing something that reasonably shows the holder the owner knows the asset exists.
The section also sets its own jurisdictional and notice rules tailored to digital assets. The owner's last known address can come from a standard mailing address or from any code or description in the holder's records that identifies the owner's state, with the mailing address controlling if the two conflict. Before the asset becomes reportable, the holder must send notice, six to twelve months ahead of time, by certified mail with return receipt if a mailing address is on file, or electronically if the owner has consented to that method and no address is available. The notice follows the same format and warning language this batch's other notice sections use, and returning a signed confirmation form or otherwise making contact restarts the escheat period. Once a digital asset is eligible for escheatment, the holder of any partial cryptographic key to it has sixty days to try to obtain the remaining keys needed to transfer the asset.
Added by Stats 2025 ch 660 (SB 822),s 3, eff. 1/1/2026.