§ 1600.Policy of State to Discover Property In Custody of United States

This section opens a distinct part of the unclaimed property law, one dealing with property the federal government holds rather than property in the hands of private or state holders. It sets out California's policy in three parts: first, to actively discover property sitting unclaimed in the custody of United States officers, departments, and agencies, where the owner's address is known or believed to be in California; second, to give the state a judicial process for having a court determine that California, not the owner directly, should receive custody of that property; and third, to let the state spend money both to cover its share of the cost of finding this property and to protect the United States from being sued over property it hands over to California.

Chapters 1 through 7 of this title deal with the ordinary escheat scheme, property abandoned with private holders. This chapter is narrower: it exists specifically to reach property already in federal hands, using its own procedure built around cooperation with, and reimbursement of, the federal government.