Committee advances bill shifting decedent property duties to coroners; proceeds over $50 go to unclaimed property fund

The Labor, Health & Social Services Committee on Feb. 14 advanced Senate File 75, a bill that would move responsibility for disposing of money and personal property found on decedents from clerks of district court to coroners and direct proceeds above $50 into the state's Uniform Unclaimed Property Act fund.

The bill matters because it codifies where counties say the work already happens, adds a 180-day period for next of kin to claim property, authorizes sale by public auction or other county-adopted sale methods, requires burial expenses be paid first, and places any remaining proceeds above $50 in the custody of the state treasurer under the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act. The bill as amended takes effect July 1.

Senator Case, the bill sponsor, told the committee the proposal aligns legal responsibility with practice: coroners, not clerks, typically handle property found on decedents. "What this bill does is to provide for the, disposition of property that, is found on a decedent when there's no next of kin," Senator Case said in committee…