Unclaimed Money Act 2008

Subject to subsection (2), if a trustee holds any property that has not been claimed by the person entitled to it for the required period, the trustee must, within 12 months after the expiration of the required period—

sell, call in or otherwise convert the property into unclaimed money within the meaning of paragraph (b) of the definition of unclaimed money in section 3(1); and

pay the unclaimed money to the Registrar; and

lodge a statement with the Registrar giving details of the estate or trust to which the payment relates and of the details as known to the trustee of the person entitled to the property in respect of which the payment is made.

The Registrar may, on an application made under section 15 by a trustee for an extension of time, extend the time for—

selling, calling in or converting property under subsection (1)(a); and

paying the unclaimed money to the Registrar under subsection (1)(b); and

lodging a statement with the Registrar under subsection (1)(c)—

Subject to subsection (4), a trustee is not required to comply with subsection (1) in respect of any property at any particular time if, at that time, the trustee (or an officer of the trustee if the trustee is not a natural person) knows or has reason to believe that the person entitled to the property wishes the trustee to continue to hold the property.

For the purposes of subsection (3), a trustee does not have reason to believe that a person entitled to property wishes the trustee to continue to hold the property because the person does not respond to a communication from the trustee (or does not respond as specified in the communication), even if the terms of the communication suggest that the person's failure to respond indicates such a wish.

Division 1 does not apply to a trustee who is required to pay unclaimed money to the Registrar under subsection (1).