| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to child support; amending s. 409.2558, |
| 3 | F.S.; requiring the Department of Revenue to use |
| 4 | reasonable efforts to locate persons to whom collections |
| 5 | or refunds are owed, including disclosing information on |
| 6 | the Internet; amending s. 717.118, F.S.; authorizing the |
| 7 | Department of Financial Services to publish notification |
| 8 | of undistributed support collections; requiring the |
| 9 | department to refer inquiries regarding undistributed |
| 10 | support collections to the Department of Revenue; |
| 11 | providing an effective date. |
| 12 |
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| 13 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 14 |
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| 15 | Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section |
| 16 | 409.2558, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 17 | 409.2558 Support distribution and disbursement.-- |
| 18 | (2) UNDISTRIBUTABLE COLLECTIONS.-- |
| 19 | (a) The department shall establish by rule the method for |
| 20 | determining a collection or refund to a noncustodial parent to |
| 21 | be undistributable to the final intended recipient. This method |
| 22 | must provide for reasonable efforts to locate and notify persons |
| 23 | to whom collections or refunds are owed, including the |
| 24 | disclosure of names and other information on the Internet. |
| 25 | Section 2. Subsection (5) is added to section 717.118, |
| 26 | Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 27 | 717.118 Notice and publication of lists of unclaimed |
| 28 | property.-- |
| 29 | (1) It is specifically recognized that the state has an |
| 30 | obligation to make an effort to notify owners of unclaimed |
| 31 | property in a cost-effective manner. In order to provide all the |
| 32 | citizens of this state an effective and efficient program for |
| 33 | the recovery of unclaimed property, the department shall use |
| 34 | cost-effective means to make at least one active attempt to |
| 35 | notify owners of the existence of unclaimed property held by the |
| 36 | department. Such active attempt to locate apparent owners shall |
| 37 | include any attempt by the department to directly contact the |
| 38 | owner. Other means of notification, such as publication of the |
| 39 | names of owners in the newspaper, on television, on the |
| 40 | Internet, or through other promotional efforts and items in |
| 41 | which the department does not directly attempt to contact the |
| 42 | owner are expressly declared to be passive attempts. Nothing in |
| 43 | this subsection precludes other agencies or entities of state |
| 44 | government from notifying owners of the existence of unclaimed |
| 45 | property or attempting to locate apparent owners of unclaimed |
| 46 | property. |
| 47 | (2) The following notification requirements shall apply: |
| 48 | (a) Notifications that are published or televised may |
| 49 | consist of the names of apparent owners of unclaimed property, |
| 50 | and information regarding recovery of unclaimed property from |
| 51 | the department. Such notification may be televised or published |
| 52 | in the county in which the last known address of the apparent |
| 53 | owner is located or, if the address is unknown, in the county in |
| 54 | which the holder has its principal place of business. Published |
| 55 | notifications may be in accordance with s. 50.011. |
| 56 | (b) Notification provided directly to individual apparent |
| 57 | owners shall consist of a description of the property and |
| 58 | information regarding recovery of unclaimed property from the |
| 59 | department. |
| 60 | (3) The department may publish in the notice any items of |
| 61 | more than $100. |
| 62 | (4) This section is not applicable to sums payable on |
| 63 | traveler's checks, money orders, and other written instruments |
| 64 | presumed unclaimed under s. 717.104. |
| 65 | (5) The department may publish notification of |
| 66 | undistributed support collections in the same manner as |
| 67 | unclaimed property. The department shall refer all inquiries |
| 68 | concerning undistributed support collections to the Department |
| 69 | of Revenue for resolution under s. 409.2558. |
| 70 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2004. |