State and property-specific rules

Learn about shortened dormancy, money orders, traveler's checks, and Delaware's foreign property exemption.

About shortened dormancy

The property owner's death may shorten due diligence and reporting timelines.

In some states, dormancy periods are shorter if the property owner's date of death is known and you might be required to send due diligence letters and report sooner. This shortened dormancy requirement applies to the following states:

Delaware
Florida
Idaho
Illinois
Maine
Vermont

If you provide a property owner's date of death when adding properties for these states, we will automatically use the shortened dormancy and calculate an earlier due date for the properties.

Go to the Compliance Resources page and select Property Codes on the By State/Province tab. Reference the Standard Dormancy and the Shortened Dormancy columns to see the difference in dormancy if the property owner's date of death is known.

Note:

For properties with more than one owner, all owners must be deceased to trigger the shortened dormancy period.

About money orders and traveler's checks

Find out about CK07 and CK08 properties' requirements.

Money orders, or CK07 properties, and traveler's checks, or CK08 properties, have the following specific requirements that differ from other property types:

Business categories

CK07 properties are only allowed for the following business categories:

Corporation
Financial institution
Retail company

Note:

If you add a CK07 property to a business belonging to any other category, you will get an Invalid property code error.

Alternate filing state

You must select an alternate filing state for CK07 and CK08 properties in the owner details section to indicate the state where the money order or traveler's check was purchased.

Property owner information

Money orders, or CK07 properties, purchased in the following states will automatically convert to the CK15 property code. CK15 is used to identify other outstanding official checks and will be reported to the property owner's state if the owner's name, street address, and state are provided:

Arizona
Arkansas
Hawaii
Iowa
Kansas
Louisiana
Maine
Minnesota
Nevada
New Mexico
Virgin Islands
West Virginia

If the property owner's name, state address, or state are missing, the property will remain categorized as CK07 and will be reported to the state where the money order was purchased, which is the state selected in the Alternate filing state field.

About Delaware's foreign property exemption

Learn about Delaware's foreign property exemption and how to mark qualifying properties as exempt from reporting.

Note:

This exemption only applies if your business is incorporated in Delaware.

What is the Delaware foreign property exemption?

Delaware amended its Escheat Law to change reporting requirements for certain property with foreign owner addresses. Under the new law, Delaware no longer claims jurisdiction over properties with foreign addresses if the foreign jurisdiction either requires escheatment of the property or exempts it from reporting.

Previously, Delaware-incorporated businesses had to report all dormant properties with foreign addresses, regardless of foreign unclaimed property laws.

Important:

This exemption only applies to property with foreign addresses. You must still report properties with unknown addresses to Delaware.

Exemption requirements

To apply Delaware's exemption, determine whether the foreign jurisdiction has:

An unclaimed property law
Coverage for your specific property types
Application to your industry or business category
Any exemptions to that law

Important:

Not all property types qualify. Even researched jurisdictions may not cover all property types, meaning some properties may still require reporting to Delaware. Consult with your legal counsel before making final exemption decisions.

Researched jurisdictions

Sovos has researched select foreign jurisdictions where unclaimed property laws are easily accessible and identified the property codes that would qualify for the Delaware exemption. Download the list of researched jurisdictions from the All tab of the Compliance Resources page.

Note:

This list is not exhaustive. Research focused on jurisdictions with unclaimed property laws available in English. There may be other foreign jurisdictions with relevant laws.

Best practices

Maintain documentation: Keep records of foreign property exemption decisions for audit purposes.
Stay current: Check the researched jurisdictions list periodically for updates.
Verify property types: Confirm your property types qualify for exemption in the foreign jurisdiction.
Consider courtesy mailings: Send periodic mailings to foreign owners to maintain contact and reduce compliance risk.

Need more assistance?

Determining exemption eligibility for foreign property can be complex, especially if you operate in multiple jurisdictions or hold various property types. Sovos Unclaimed Property Consulting Services provide customized analysis for your business, including:

Detailed review of your foreign property holdings
Property type-specific exemption determinations
Jurisdiction-specific research beyond the researched list
Ongoing compliance support as foreign laws evolve

Mark foreign properties as exempt

Review the exemption requirements to identify which properties to mark as exempt.
Make sure foreign properties include three-character country codes.

To exempt qualifying foreign property from Delaware reporting, you must identify the properties and mark them as exempt. The following steps show how to download these properties in an Excel spreadsheet, edit their exempt information, then reimport them.

Click Properties on the menu.
Filter the table to view only foreign properties.
1. Click the Select filters icon.
2. Click the Plus icon next to Advanced filter.
3. Select Country, select equals, then enter the three-character country code of the foreign jurisdiction.
4. Click the Add icon again and select Or from the first dropdown to include additional county codes.
5. Use the Property code dropdown to filter for specific property codes.
6. Click Apply.
Review the filtered properties to confirm they meet exemption criteria. Adjust the filters until only properties you want to exempt are displayed.
Click Download properties as .xlsx.
Add the exemption information in the downloaded Excel file:
1. Enter E in the Status column for each property.
2. Enter Delaware Foreign Exemption in the Comment column for each property.
Re-import the file.

The properties' statuses are updated to Exempt (E), and they will be excluded from future Delaware state reports.