Public Trustee Act 1978

Where the governing body of any hospital has in its possession or under its control any property (including money and securities for money) to which some person, whether ascertained or not, is entitled and which property has remained unclaimed for a period of 3 months or longer (whether such period is wholly before, or partly before and partly after, or wholly after the commencement of this Act) it shall—

take all reasonable steps to ascertain the identity and whereabouts of the owner of such property and to deliver it to such owner;

where it is unable to deliver the property to the owner thereof—deliver the same to the public trustee, whose receipt shall be sufficient acknowledgement and discharge to the governing body of the hospital therefor.

Such governing body shall give to the public trustee all information within its knowledge or within the knowledge of officers as to the former owner (whether living or dead) of such property, the circumstances and conditions under which the property came into its possession or control, and the names and addresses of any persons who may be entitled to such property at the time of delivery thereof to the public trustee.

The public trustee shall, upon the receipt of such property, become the administrator thereof under this division as if the public trustee had been appointed by the court pursuant to section 104(1).

In this section—governing body, of a hospital, means—

for a public sector hospital within the meaning of the Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011—the health service chief executive of the Hospital and Health Service, under the Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011, in which the hospital is located; or

for a private hospital—the licensee of the hospital within the meaning of the Private Health Facilities Act 1999.