127th MAINE LEGISLATURE
		LD 1130		LR 1256(02)
	An Act To Clarify the Use of Lawyer's Trust Account Funds When the Owner Is Not Known or Cannot Be Located
	Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment " "
	Committee: Judiciary
	Fiscal Note Required: Yes
Fiscal Note
Current biennium revenue decrease - General Fund Current biennium revenue decrease - Unclaimed Property Fund
Fiscal Detail and Notes
	This legislation provides that funds presumed abandoned in a lawyer's pooled trust account be transferred to the Maine Bar Foundation for civil legal aid to low-income residents.  Under current law, and consistent with the treatment of other abandoned assets, these funds are remitted to the State Treasurer and deposited in the Unclaimed Property Fund. After an attempt to locate and reunite the owner with the money, any funds still unclaimed are transferred at year end to the General Fund. This transfer does not change the State's liability to the owner should he or she come forward in the future. This legislation would decrease the amount turned over to the State Treasurer and subsequently transferred to the General Fund.  The amount of future decreases cannot be determined at this time.