Obligations for enterprises

The types of unclaimed money sent to us includes:

• money greater than $100 held in an account that has been inactive for at least 6 years under the Unclaimed Money Act 1995
• trust money under the Property, Stock and Business Agents Act 2002 that has been held for more than 2 years irrespective of the amount
• money held in a trust account of a legal firm irrespective of the amount or time held, provided the legal firm has made reasonable efforts to locate the rightful owner(s) under the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014
• money that forms part of an estate of which a trustee company is executor, administrator or trustee that has been held for at least 5 years under the Trustee Companies Act 1964.

Unclaimed trust money held by a NSW law practice

Unclaimed money held in a trust account by a law practice in NSW is governed by section 14 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 (NSW).

If a law practice can't find the owner of money it holds in a trust account, it has two options:

• the money may be paid to the Treasurer who is then responsible for returning the money to the rightful owner
• the money may be retained in the trust account until it can find the rightful owner.

The Unclaimed Money Act 1995 doesn't apply to this category of unclaimed money.  This means a law practice can pay the money to the Treasurer at any time after it becomes aware that it can't locate the owner.

If unclaimed money is paid to the Treasurer, the law practice is absolved from further responsibility for returning the money to the owner.   However, it doesn't absolve its responsibilities to any other person who may have a claim on the money.

If the ownership of money held in a trust account is in dispute, it is not 'unclaimed money and must not be paid to the Treasurer.  It's the responsibility of the law practice to determine the rightful owner.  If disputed money is paid to the Treasurer, it will be returned to the law firm.

How to pay unclaimed money to the Treasurer

Unclaimed money can be paid to the Treasurer via us, and it will be held in the Consolidated Fund until it is claimed by the rightful owner.

For information on how to lodge unclaimed with us, visit How to send unclaimed money to us

The Unclaimed Money Act 1995 doesn't apply to trust money

The Unclaimed Money Act 1995 doesn't apply to money held in a law practice’s trust account.  The requirement under this Act that money must be unclaimed for six years before it becomes 'unclaimed' doesn't apply.  Once a law practice is satisfied that it's unable to locate the owner, the money can be forwarded to us.

Information to be provided to us

Any information that will assist in identifying the owner should be provided to us, including:

• Full name/s of the owner/s
• last known residential and business address and any previous addresses
• year the money was payable
• nature of the money
• email addresses and telephone numbers
• copies of documents explaining the source of the money
• copies of documents that may assist in identifying the rightful owner or the owner’s claim to the money.

Law practice must provide relevant information about the rightful owner

On behalf of the Treasurer we may require a law practice (or any person) to provide information that they have, or can obtain, about the entitlement of a person to the money paid to the Treasurer, including the attempts made to locate the rightful owner.

What is a 'law practice'?

A law practice is defined in the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) No 16, and may be:

• a sole practitioner
• a partnership of Australian legal practitioners and/or Australian-registered foreign lawyers
• a community legal service
• an incorporated legal practice.

We hold unclaimed superannuation that was lodged with us between 1 July 1997 to 30 June 2007 and only collect unclaimed money from NSW public sector superannuation.

Superannuation becomes unclaimed in the following circumstances.

When a member:

• is 65 years or older
• has not made a contribution or received benefits in two years and
• has not been in contact with you for five years despite reasonable attempts to contact them.

For a non-member spouse, when:

• there is a payment split as a result of a determination under the Family Law Act 1975
• they (or if they have died, their legal representative) are entitled to be paid an amount
• the superannuation provider, after reasonable efforts and time, is unable to ensure a person entitled to the superannuation benefit receives it.

When, in the case of a deceased member:

• the superannuation provider determines that an immediate benefit (other than a pension or annuity) is required to be paid
• no contributions have been received or defined benefits accrued for two years
• the superannuation provider, after reasonable efforts and time, is unable to ensure the benefit is received by the person entitled to receive it.

If you need more information, please contact us

Accounts with $100 or less are not classed as unclaimed money.

• This $100 limit does not apply to trust money held under the Property, Stock and Business Agents Act 2002.
• Amounts of $100 or less can still be lodged with us by registering online and using our online lodgement facility. This money will be treated as unclaimed money and if over $20 will be listed on our website for claim.

If the inactive money is held in a trust or as part of a NSW public sector superannuation fund, you must send it to us regardless of the account balance.

You don’t have to send unclaimed money to us if:

• you hold money for the same person in other active accounts
• you believe the owner wants to keep the money in that account
• the money belongs to a deregistered company
• the owner can recover the money under law.