34-24-124. Deposit of funds; investment of funds; loans; immunity from liability.
(a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, the administrator shall promptly deposit in the unclaimed property account all funds received under this act, including the proceeds from the sale of abandoned property under W.S. 34-24-123. Before making the deposit, the administrator shall record the name and last known address of each person appearing from the holders' reports to be entitled to the property and the name and last known address of each insured person or annuitant and beneficiary and with respect to each policy or contract listed in the report of an insurance company its number, the name of the company and the amount due. The claimant's name and last known address shall be available for public inspection at all reasonable business hours.
(b) The administrator or his designee shall invest the funds in the unclaimed property account created by subsection
(a) of this section as authorized by law in a manner to obtain the highest net return possible consistent with the purposes of this act. Investment earnings from the account shall be deposited into the unclaimed property investment earnings account. There is continuously appropriated to the administrator from the unclaimed property investment earnings account an amount equal to the administrator's expenses in carrying out this act. Annually after the end of each fiscal year the administrator shall deposit in the general fund investment earnings earned on the unclaimed property account which exceed the amount necessary to administer this act for the fiscal year and which exceeds the amount equal to one hundred percent (100%) of the immediately prior biennium's appropriation for the unclaimed property division.
(c) An action or proceeding shall not be commenced against the state, the administrator or his designee because of an act of the administrator under this section involving the investment of unclaimed property funds.
(a) A person, excluding another state, claiming an interest in any property paid or delivered to the administrator may file with the administrator a claim on a form prescribed by the administrator and verified by the claimant.
(b) The administrator shall consider each claim within ninety (90) days after it is filed and give written notice to the claimant if the claim is denied in whole or in part. The notice may be given by mailing it to the last address, if any, stated in the claim as the address to which notices are to be sent. If no address for notices is stated in the claim, the notice may be mailed to the last address, if any, of the claimant as stated in the claim. No notice of denial need be given if the claim fails to state either the last address to which notices are to be sent or the address of the claimant.
(c) If a claim is allowed, the administrator shall pay over to the claimant the monies received from the holder, or the net proceeds if property has been sold by the administrator, together with any additional amount required by W.S. 34-24-122. If the claim is for property deemed abandoned under W.S. 34-24-111 which was sold by the administrator within three (3) years after the date of delivery, the amount payable for that claim is the value of the property at the time the claim was made or the net proceeds of sale, whichever is greater.
34-24-126. Claim of another state to recover property; procedure.
(a) At any time after property has been paid or delivered to the administrator under this act another state may recover the property if:
(i) The property was subjected to custody by this state because the records of the holder did not reflect the last known address of the apparent owner when the property was deemed abandoned under this act, and the other state establishes that the last known address of the apparent owner or other person entitled to the property was in that state and under the laws of that state the property escheated to or was subject to a claim of abandonment by that state;
(ii) The last known address of the apparent owner or other person entitled to the property, as reflected by the records of the holder, is in the other state and under the laws of that state the property has escheated to or become subject to a claim of abandonment by that state;
(iii) The records of the holder were erroneous in that they did not accurately reflect the actual owner of the property and the last known address of the actual owner is in the other state and under the laws of that state the property escheated to or was subject to a claim of abandonment by that state;
(iv) The property was subjected to custody by this state under W.S. 34-24-104(a)(vi) and under the laws of the state of domicile of the holder the property has escheated to or become subject to a claim of abandonment by that state; or
(v) The property is the sum payable on a traveler's check, money order or other similar instrument that was subjected to custody by this state under W.S. 34-24-105, and the instrument was purchased in the other state and under the laws of that state the property escheated to or became subject to a claim of abandonment by that state.
(b) The claim of another state to recover escheated or abandoned property must be presented in a form prescribed by the administrator, who shall decide the claim within ninety (90) days after it is presented. The administrator shall allow the claim if he determines that the other state is entitled to the abandoned property under subsection (a) of this section.
(c) The administrator shall require a state, before recovering property under this section, to agree to indemnify this state and its officers and employees against any liability on a claim for the property.
A person aggrieved by a decision of the administrator or whose claim has not been acted upon within ninety (90) days after its filing may bring an action to establish the claim in the district court of the county where the claimant resides or in the district court of Laramie county, naming the administrator as a defendant. The action shall be brought within ninety (90) days after the decision of the administrator or within one hundred eighty (180) days after the filing of the claim if he has failed to act on it.
A holder, with the written consent of the administrator and upon conditions and terms prescribed by him, may report and deliver property before the property is deemed abandoned. Property delivered under this subsection shall be held by the administrator and is not deemed abandoned until such time as it otherwise would be deemed abandoned under this act.
34-24-129. Destruction or disposition of property having insubstantial commercial value; immunity from liability.
If the administrator determines after investigation that any property delivered under this act has insubstantial commercial value, the administrator may destroy or otherwise dispose of the property after five (5) years in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the administrator. No action or proceeding may be maintained against the state or any officer or against the holder for or on account of any action taken by the administrator pursuant to this section. The administrator shall keep a public record of all such property, identifying the property and the date and nature of the disposition.
(a) The expiration, before or after the effective date of this act, of any period of time specified by contract, statute or court order, during which a claim for money or property can be made or during which an action or proceeding may be commenced or enforced to obtain payment of a claim for money or to recover property, does not prevent the money or property from being deemed abandoned or affect any duty to file a report or to pay or deliver abandoned property to the administrator as required by this act.
(b) No action or proceeding may be commenced by the administrator against any holder concerning any provision of this act more than ten (10) years after the holder either specifically reported the property, or gave notice of a dispute regarding the property, to the administrator.
(a) If an examination of the records of a person results in the disclosure of property reportable and deliverable under this act, the administrator may assess the cost of the examination against the holder at the rate of one hundred dollars ($100.00) a day for each examiner, but in no case may the charges exceed the value of the property found to be reportable and deliverable. The cost of examination may be imposed only against a business association.
(b) If a holder fails after the effective date of this act to maintain the records required by W.S. 34-24-132 and the records of the holder available for the periods subject to this act are insufficient to permit the preparation of a report, the administrator may require the holder to report and pay such amounts as may reasonably be estimated from any available records.
(a) Every holder required to file a report under W.S. 34-24-118, as to any property for which it has obtained the last known address of the owner, shall maintain a record of the name and last known address of the owner for five (5) years after the property becomes reportable, except to the extent that a shorter time is provided in subsection (b) of this section or by rule of the administrator.
(b) Any business association that sells in this state its traveler's checks, money orders or other similar written instruments, other than third-party bank checks on which the business association is directly liable, or that provides such instruments to others for sale in this state, shall maintain a record of those instruments while they remain outstanding, indicating the state and date of issue for three (3) years after the date the property is reportable.
(a) The administrator, for and on behalf of this state, may commence an action, summary or otherwise, in the district court of the county where the defendant resides or in the district court of Laramie county:
(i) For an adjudication that certain property is unclaimed and payable or distributable to the administrator;
(ii) To compel presentation of a report or payment or distribution of property to the administrator;
(iii) To enforce the duty of a person to permit the examination or audit of the records of that person;
(iv) To enjoin any act that violates the public policy or provisions of this act; or
(v) To enforce any aspect of this act in any manner.
(b) The administrator may commence an action under subsection (a) of this section in the following situations:
(i) The holder is a person domiciled in this state or is a governmental entity of this state;
(ii) The holder is a person engaged in or transacting any business in this state, although not domiciled in this state; or
(iii) The subject matter is tangible personal property held in this state.
(c) In a situation where no state court in this state can obtain jurisdiction over the person involved, the administrator may commence an action authorized by this section in a federal court or state court of another state having jurisdiction over that person.
(d) The administrator shall be an indispensable party to any judicial or administrative proceedings concerning the disposition and handling of unclaimed property that is or may be payable or distributable into the protective custody of the administrator.
(e) The administrator shall have a right to intervene and participate in any judicial or administrative proceeding when to do so will be in the best interest of this state, the apparent owner or the unclaimed property or to conserve and safeguard the unclaimed property against dissipation, undue diminishment or adverse discriminatory treatment.
34-24-134. Interstate agreements and cooperation; joint and reciprocal actions with other states.
(a) The administrator may enter into agreements with other states to exchange information needed to enable this or another state to audit or otherwise determine unclaimed property that it or another state may be entitled to subject to a claim of custody. The administrator by rule may require the reporting of information needed to enable compliance with agreements made pursuant to this section and prescribe the form.
(b) To avoid conflicts between the administrator's procedures and the procedures of administrators in other jurisdictions that enact the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, the administrator, so far as is consistent with the purposes, policies and provisions of this act, before adopting, amending or repealing rules, shall advise and consult with administrators in other jurisdictions that enact substantially the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act and take into consideration the rules of administrators in other jurisdictions that enact the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act.
(c) The administrator may join with other states to seek enforcement of this act against any person who is or may be holding property reportable under this act.
(d) At the request of another state, the attorney general of this state may bring an action in the name of the administrator of the other state in any court of competent jurisdiction to enforce the unclaimed property laws of the other state against a holder in this state of property subject to escheat or a claim of abandonment by the other state, if the other state has agreed to pay expenses incurred by the attorney general in bringing the action.
(e) The administrator may request that the attorney general of another state or any other person bring an action in the name of the administrator in the other state. This state shall pay all expenses including attorney's fees in any action under this subsection. The administrator may agree to pay the person bringing the action attorney's fees based in whole or in part on a percentage of the value of any property recovered in the action. Any expenses paid pursuant to this subsection may not be deducted from the amount that is subject to the claim by the owner under this act.
(a) Unless specifically exempted by federal law:
(i) A person who willfully fails to present a report to the administrator when due or to perform any other duty required under this act, other than payment or delivery of unclaimed property as required by this act, shall pay a civil penalty of not more than one hundred dollars ($100.00) for each day the report is not presented or the duty is not performed;
(ii) A person who willfully fails to pay or deliver to the administrator any unclaimed property as required under this act shall pay a civil penalty equal to twenty-five percent (25%) of the value of the property that should have been paid or delivered;
(iii) Any person who fails to pay or deliver unclaimed property to the administrator within the time period required by this act shall pay to the administrator interest at the annual rate of ten percent (10%) above the annual rate of discount, in effect on the date the property should have been paid or delivered, for the most recent issue of 52-week U.S. treasury bills, calculated upon the value of the unclaimed property from the date that property should have been paid or delivered. If the property remains unpaid or undelivered for more than one (1) year after becoming payable or deliverable, the interest rate for each succeeding year shall be calculated at an annual rate of ten percent (10%) above the discount rate on each succeeding anniversary of the date that the unclaimed property was payable or distributable.
(b) For the purposes of assessing and calculating the penalties and interest on unclaimed property which was discovered during an examination or audit and which was not paid or distributed, as required, the date upon which the unclaimed property was originally payable or distributable shall be used as the date upon or from which penalties and interest are assessed and calculated.
(c) The administrator shall have discretion to waive the payment of penalties and interest or to reduce the amount of the interest in an appropriate circumstance.
(a) All agreements from claimants to pay compensation to a third-party researcher to recover or assist in the recovery of property reported under W.S. 34-24-118, made within twenty-four (24) months after the date payment or delivery is made from the holder to the state of Wyoming under W.S. 34-24-120, are unenforceable.
(b) An agreement entered into after the twenty-four (24) month period provided by subsection (a) of this section is enforceable only if the agreement is in writing.
(c) An agreement by a claimant to pay compensation to a third-party researcher to recover or assist in the recovery of property in the possession of a holder is unenforceable if made within twelve (12) months prior to the scheduled date for the holder to report the property under W.S. 34-24-118, whether or not the property remains in the holder's possession until that reporting date.
34-24-138. Effect of new provisions; clarification of application.
(a) This act does not relieve a holder of a duty that arose before the effective date of this act to report, pay or deliver property. A holder who did not comply with the law in effect before the effective date of this act is subject to the applicable enforcement and penalty provisions that then existed and they are continued in effect for the purpose of this subsection, subject to W.S. 34-24-130(b).
(b) The initial report filed under this act for property that was not required to be reported before the effective date of this act but which is subject to this act shall include all items of property that are deemed abandoned as of the effective date of this act.
34-24-140. Property originated or issued by this state,
any political subdivision hereof or any entity incorporated, organized, created or otherwise located herein.
(a) All intangible property, including but not limited to securities, principal, interest, dividends, or other earnings thereon, less any lawful charges, held by a business association, federal, state or local government or governmental subdivision, agency or entity, or any other person or entity, regardless of where the holder may be found, if the owner has not claimed the property or corresponded in writing with the holder concerning the property within three (3) years after the date prescribed for payment or delivery by the issuer (unless the holder is a state that has taken custody pursuant to its own unclaimed property laws, in which case no additional period of holding beyond that of such state is necessary hereunder), is presumed abandoned and subject to the custody of this state as unclaimed property if:
(i) The last known address of the owner is unknown; and
(ii) The person or entity originating or issuing the intangible property is this state or any political subdivision of this state, or is incorporated, organized, created or otherwise located in this state.
(b) The provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to property which is or may be presumed abandoned and subject to the custody of this state pursuant to any other provision of law.
(c) The provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall apply to all property held at the time of enactment of this section, or at any time thereafter, regardless of when the property became or becomes presumptively abandoned.
(a) The most recent version of the state plane coordinate system for the state of Wyoming that has been established by NGS, based on the NSRS for defining and stating the positions or locations of points on the surface of the earth within the state of Wyoming shall be known as the "Wyoming Plane Coordinate System." The Wyoming Plane Coordinate System shall be named, and in any land description in which it is used it shall be designated, the "Wyoming Plane Coordinate System" and the zone used shall be specified.
(b) Repealed by Laws 2024, ch. 3, § 3.
The plane coordinates of a point on the earth's surface, to be used in expressing the position or location of such point in the appropriate zone of this system, shall consist of two (2) distances, expressed in feet and decimals of a foot, or meters and decimals of a meter. One (1) of these distances, to be known as the "east x-coordinate" shall give the distance east of the Y axis; the other, to be known as the "north y-coordinate" shall give the distance north of the X axis. The Y axis of any zone shall be parallel with the central meridian of that zone. The X axis of any zone shall be at right angles to the central meridian of that zone. One (1) foot shall equal three thousand forty-eight ten-thousandths (0.3048) of one (1) meter and shall be used as the standard unit of measurement for the Wyoming Plane Coordinate System. The official geodetic datums to which geodetic coordinates are referenced within the state of Wyoming including latitude, longitude, ellipsoid height, orthometric height or dynamic height shall be defined by the NSRS. Height is the coordinate value of the vertical elements of the NSRS expressed in feet and identified as ellipsoid height or orthometric height.
When any tract of land to be defined by a single description extends from one (1) zone into other zones, the positions of all the points on its boundaries shall be referred to as only one (1) of the zones, the zone which is used shall be specifically named in the description and the metadata of the observations shall be included in the description.
Coordinates based on the Wyoming Plane Coordinate System, purporting to define the position of a point on a land boundary, may be presented to be recorded in any public land records or deed records in the office of a county clerk. The method and source for establishing coordinates shall be described in the land or deed record. In all instances where reference has been made to coordinates in land surveys or deeds, the combined factors shall be stated for the survey lines used in computing ground distances and areas and the metadata of observations shall be included in the record.
The use of the term "Wyoming Plane Coordinate System" on any map, report of survey or other document, shall be limited to plane coordinates based on the Wyoming Plane Coordinate System as defined in this chapter.
34-25-107. Description in other surveys; conflicts.
Wherever coordinates based on the Wyoming Plane Coordinate System are used to describe any tract of land which in the same document is also described by reference to any subdivision, line or corner of the United States public land surveys, the description by plane coordinates shall be construed as supplemental to the basic description of the subdivision, line or corner contained in the official plats and field notes filed of record, and in the event of any conflict, the description by reference to the subdivision, line or corner of the United States public land surveys shall prevail over the description by plane coordinates. Every recorded map, survey or conveyance, or other instrument affecting title to real property which delineates, describes or refers to such property or any part thereof by reference to coordinates based upon the Wyoming Plane Coordinate System shall also describe the property by reference and tie to a controlling corner monument of the United States public land surveys, if applicable.
(a) Nothing contained in this chapter shall require any purchaser or mortgagee to rely on a description, any part of which depends exclusively upon the Wyoming Plane Coordinate System.
(b) The provisions of this chapter shall not be construed to:
(i) Prohibit the appropriate use of other datums, other geodetic reference networks or systems or other plane coordinate systems;
(ii) Require the revision of any survey, deed, record or other document prepared or recorded before July 1, 2024 that uses the Wyoming Coordinate System NAD 1983 or any other coordinate system previously authorized under this chapter.
(a) As used in this chapter:
(i) "Metadata" means data that describes other data including utilized geodetic reference system data, applicable epoch, statement or relative accuracy data and date of observation data;
(ii) "NGS" means the national ocean service's national geodetic survey of the national oceanic and atmospheric administration, United States department of commerce or its successor;
(iii) "NSRS" means the national spatial reference system or its successor;
(iv) "Wyoming Plane Coordinate System" means the system of plane coordinates under this chapter that is identical to the state plane coordinate system as defined for the state of Wyoming by NGS.