CopyCited 15 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 9266, 2015 WL 3759702
...il or
administrative action” against him. §
717.1341(2), Fla. Stat. (2013).
Appellant can file a claim with the Department for return of the money in
order to prompt use of section
717.1341(2) by the Department to obtain
monies from appellee. See §
717.124, Fla....
CopyCited 2 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 349, 2012 WL 104505
...However, a judgment creditor does have standing to assert a claim against unclaimed property in the hands of the state in order to obtain a determination that the property does in fact belong to the judgment debtor. Accordingly, if Ms. O'Connor files a claim under section 717.124, the department must determine whether it is in possession of unclaimed property belonging to Mr....
CopyCited 1 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2015 WL 1088400
...te and be a permanent appropriation for payments by the Chief Financial Officer of the state in obedience of such orders. Chapter 717 specifies the procedures which must be followed to claim interest in unclaimed property delivered to the CFO. See §§ 717.124(1), Fla....
...y reason of a court document shall file a certified copy of the court document with the department.”). It also specifies some of the duties of the CFO with regard to such claims and vests the CFO with the authority to approve and pay claims. See §§ 717.124(4)(a) (“[I]f a claim is determined [by the department] in favor of the claimant, the department shall deliver or pay over to the claimant the property......
...shall be additional and supplemental to the existing provisions of [section]_43.19.” Thus, these statutes must be read in pari materia to fully understand the proper procedure for the claiming and disbursement of these funds. A recent amendment to section 717.124, which provides that the procedures and duties outlined therein “appl[y] to all unclaimed property reported or remitted to the Chief Financial Officer, including, but not limited to, property reported pursuant to ss. 43.19,” further supports our conclusion. See § 717.124(8), Fla....
...City of Cape Coral,
120 So.3d 595, 599 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013). Section
45.032(4) provides that “the clerk [of. court] shall treat the remaining funds as unclaimed property to be deposited with .the Chief Financial Officer pursuant to chapter 717.” By amending section
717.124 to specify that its procedures apply to funds deposited pursuant to section 43.19, the legislature has clarified that the authority to order payment of unclaimed funds rests with the CFO. See also Atwater v. Citibank, F.S.B.,
96 So.3d 1010, 1012 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012) (“The Department of Financial Services is vested with the sole authority to make financial determination as to unclaimed funds.”). Finally, because section
717.124 is procedural in nature its amendment may be retrospectively applied. See Alamo Rent-A-Car, Inc. v. Mancusi,
632 So.2d 1352, 1358 (Fla.1994); accord City of Cape Coral,
120 So.3d at 598 . As a result, funds deposited with the CFO pursuant to sec tion 43.19(1) are subject to the provisions of section
717.124....
...on Governmental Oversight and Accountability, SB 464 (2013) Staff Analysis 3-4 (April 3, 2013) (“The bill also applies the procedures of ch. 717, F.S., to property reported or remitted [to] the Chief Financial Officer pursuant to: Section 43.19, F.S., Money Paid into Court; unclaimed funds_”). The amendment to section 717.124 explains, at least partially, the manner in which chapter 717 is supplemental to section 43.19 — it supplies the missing procedure for obtaining the deposited unclaimed funds....
CopyCited 1 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2013 WL 3449645
...Therefore, the surplus funds ultimately would have been transferred to the CFO in 2007. Once the funds were remitted to the CFO, the claimant or his or her representative would then have been required to file an unclaimed property request for the surplus funds with the Department. See § 717.124(1), Fla....
...Citibank, F.S.B.,
96 So.3d 1010, 1012 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012) (“The Department of Financial Services is vested with the sole authority to make financial determinations as to unclaimed funds.”). Additionally, “[i]t is and has been the intent of the [legislature that, pursuant to [section]
717.124, the department determines the merits of claims for property paid or delivered to the department under this chapter.” §
717.1242(1)....
...hority to “administer and provide for the enforcement of [chapter 717].” The Department was granted the “authority to adopt rules pursuant to [sections]
120.536(1) and
120.54 to implement the provisions of this chapter.” §
717.138; see also §
717.124. Once entitlement to the surplus funds as unclaimed property has been determined, the funds are then payable to the beneficiary by state warrant drawn by the CFO. See §
215.965, Fla. Stat. (2008) (“Except as provided in ... s.
717.124(4)(b) ..., all moneys in the State Treasury shall be disbursed by state warrant, drawn by the Chief Financial Officer upon the State Treasury and payable to the ultimate beneficiary.”)....
...ion
45.032 provided that the surplus funds became unclaimed property controlled by chapter 717, which vests the CFO and the Department alone with the authority to make the final determination as to the disposition of the unclaimed surplus funds. See §
717.1242....
CopyPublished | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Argued: Nov 20, 2024
file a claim with the Department. Fla. Stat. §
717.124(1). If the Department approves the claim,
CopyPublished | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 8950, 2011 WL 2497711
...ed property, and also dictates to DFS the outcome should there be, as here, competing claims to the same unclaimed property. The Department is governed by Chapter 717, Florida Statutes, which provides rules for the disposition of unclaimed property. Section 717.124(1) provides what proof must be presented to DFS to establish a claim....
...e to secure. 5 In the situation where there are competing or conflicting claims, as here, the Department must release the assets to the person submitting the first claim received by the Bureau of Unclaimed Property that is complete or made complete. § 717.1241(1)(a), Fla....
...Davis’ legally appointed guardian was the first to fulfill all of the statutory requirements to complete the claim, Penquite’s request for fees was properly denied. 6 Affirmed. .Perez-Guevarra was not Ms. Davis' legal guardian, nor did she have full power of attorney over Ms. Davis’ assets and affairs. . § 717.124, Fla....
CopyPublished | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal
...The court granted the Department’s motion and this Court
affirmed with a written opinion. O’Connor v. Zane,
79 So. 3d 105 (Fla. 1st DCA
2012) [O’Connor I]. In its concluding paragraph, the Court noted that:
2
[I]f Ms. O’Connor files a claim under section
717.124, the department
must determine whether it is in possession of unclaimed property
belonging to Mr....
...a writ of execution was delivered to the
Leon County Sheriff, who was instructed to find Zane and seize his assets.
A year later, on May 28, 2013, O’Connor filed a claim with the Department
seeking Zane’s unclaimed property pursuant to section 717.124, Florida Statutes.
In response, the Department issued a “Notice of Intent” finding that only Zane—
not O’Connor—was entitled to the unclaimed property....
...This appeal
followed.
II.
The central focus of this appeal is whether sovereign immunity bars
O’Connor from reaching the unclaimed funds at issue. The Department contends
that neither the garnishment statute, section
61.12, nor the unclaimed property
statute, section
717.124, clearly and unequivocally waive sovereign immunity for
the purposes of allowing judgment creditors to reach such funds. O’Connor
counters that the purpose of section
717.124 is to return unclaimed property to its
owner....
...Statutes. Section
717.1201(1) states that once unclaimed property is paid to or
delivered to the Department, the “state assumes custody and responsibility for the
safekeeping of property.” A person attempting to claim such property must turn to
section
717.124, which provides: “Any person, excluding another state, claiming
an interest in any property paid or delivered to the department under this chapter
may file with the department a claim ....
...However, a
judgment creditor does have standing to assert a claim against
unclaimed property in the hands of the state in order to obtain a
determination that the property does in fact belong to the judgment
debtor.
Accordingly, if Ms. O’Connor files a claim under section
717.124, the department must determine whether it is in possession of
unclaimed property belonging to Mr....
CopyPublished | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2014 WL 1613401, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 5866
...ocedures. Section
717.113 provides that property held by courts is typically “presumed unclaimed” after one year even though it is not transferred under section 43.19 for five years. The legal effect of this presumption is unclear to this court. Section
717.124, contains an explanation of how a person makes a claim for unclaimed property under this chapter....
...r a claimant has obtained an order of payment from the circuit court at the hearing where the State’s interests are protected by the state attorney, the claimant must still make a proper claim for the issuance of a warrant from the CFO pursuant to section 717.124, and in accordance with Florida Administrative Code Rule 691-44.021....
CopyPublished | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2014 WL 1612702, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 5850, 39 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. D 849
...The petition for writ of mandamus is DISMISSED as moot. We write, however, to address one of the Department of Financial Services’ arguments made in response to the petition seeking to compel it to determine petitioner’s claim to property filed under section 717.124, Florida Statutes (2013). The Department asserts that mandamus does not lie because petitioner *1164 has sought to compel an act that is not ministerial, as the timeframes included within section 717.124(1) are directory rather than mandatory. We disagree. While the Department certainly has the discretion to deny a claim if warranted, the legislature has clearly provided time-frames under which the Department is to act. See § 717.124(l)(c), Fla....
CopyPublished | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal
...This is not a distinction
without a difference.
The Department’s Authority
The view that escheated funds are a distinct subset of
“unclaimed funds” as that term is generally used in chapter 717 is
confirmed by the fact that the only reference to section
732.107 in
chapter 717 is in section
717.124. Section
717.124 details the
process for filing a claim for unclaimed property, which includes
the requirement to file the claim on the prescribed claim form and
the requirement to include a copy of a government-issued,
photographic identification. §
717.124(1), Fla. Stat. (2013).
Notably, section
717.124 does not include any requirement that
the claimant independently prove entitlement to the funds to the
Department. Section
717.124(8) provides,
This section applies to all unclaimed property reported
and remitted to the Chief Financial Officer, including, but
not limited to, property reported pursuant to ss. 43.19,
45.032,
732.107,
733.816, and
744.534.
(Emphasis added.)
The plain statutory language is clear that only section
717.124
applies to section
732.107 funds. The Department cannot point to
any statutory language stating the entirety of chapter 717 applies
to section
732.107 funds. The specific use of the term “section” as
7
opposed to chapter means that only section
717.124 applies to
funds transferred pursuant to section
732.107. See Maggio v. Fla.
Dep’t of Labor & Employment Security,
899 So. 2d 1074, 1080 (Fla.
2005). Indeed, if the entirety of chapter 717 applied to funds
transferred under section
732.107, then the language in section
717.124(8) would be redundant and meaningless....
...should avoid readings that would render part of a statute
meaningless.”).
The Department’s error here lies in presuming the estate
funds are subject to all of chapter 717. Simply because Choice Plus
had to file an “Unclaimed Property Claim” under section 717.124
in order to have the Department disburse Mrs. Rigley’s estate
funds does not make the estate funds themselves “unclaimed” and
subject to all provisions of chapter 717. The Department’s error in
interpreting section 717.124(8)’s narrow provision as subjecting
the estate funds to all of chapter 717 caused it to apply the wrong
standards and improperly deny the claim.
Chapter 717 gives the Department a panoply of tools in order
to determine the merits of a claim of ownership to “unclaimed
property” that come to the Department through various means.
See, e.g., § 717.1244, Fla....
...estate funds in its possession, it had more than a ministerial duty
to disburse the estate funds upon receipt of the proper claim form,
government identification, and probate court orders. Rather, the
Department references its duty to “determine the merits of the
claims.” Section 717.1242(1), Florida Statutes (2013), provides,
It is and has been the intent of the Legislature that,
pursuant to s....
...26.012(2)(b), circuit courts have
jurisdiction of proceedings relating to the settlement of
the estates of decedents and other jurisdiction usually
pertaining to courts of probate. It is and has been the
intent of the Legislature that, pursuant to s.
717.124, the
department determines the merits of claims for property
paid or delivered to the department under this chapter.
Consistent with this legislative intent, any estate or
beneficiary, as defined in s.
731.201, of an estate seeking
to obtain property paid or delivered to the department
under this chapter must file a claim with the department
as provided in s.
717.124.
9
See also Atwater v....
...3d 595, 599 (Fla. 2d
DCA 2013) (holding once surplus judicial funds were transferred
to the Chief Financial Officer, the provisions of section
45.032
provided that the surplus funds became unclaimed property
controlled by chapter 717, such that under section
717.1242 the
Chief Financial Officer and the Department alone had the
authority to make the final determination as to the disposition of
the unclaimed funds).
We do not disagree that the Department carries a
responsibility to ensure that funds are properly disbursed to the
rightful owner....
...despite the circuit court’s order to do so. Bondi specifically
provided, “We take no position regarding the validity or legitimacy
of the circuit court's orders regarding entitlement to or transfer of
the unclaimed funds.” Id. at 373.
We do not read section
717.1242(1) as giving the Department
independent jurisdiction over the merits of section
732.107 funds.
Rather, section
717.1242 confirms that the probate court has
jurisdiction to determine entitlement to the estate....
...2d at 824.
The Department’s reading also raises separation of powers
concerns. The probate court’s order was binding on the
Department. Under Article V, section 20(c)(c) circuit courts have
jurisdiction pertaining to courts of probate. The Department
overstepped its authority by interpreting section 717.124 in such a
way as to allow it to readjudicate the issue of entitlement in
contravention to the probate court’s order....
...Rigley’s
beneficiaries, the Department should have intervened in the
probate court proceedings, which it did not do.
4
Rule 69I-44.021 was repealed by the Department in 2016
because the rule had been “superseded by the enactment of section
717.124(8) in 2013.”
11
Conclusion
Choice Plus presented a complete claim as required of it under
section 717.124 that included the order from the probate court
directing the Department to disburse the estate funds....
