ESHHEAT-BONA VACANTIA-RIGHT OF STATE TO CLAIM UNCLAIMED ROYALTY PAYMENTS OF A CORPORATION

Authors

N. S. Peterman, University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

The State of Arkansas brought suit against defendant to recover "various moneys, rents, royalties, credits, and other personal property, which had been unclaimed, forgotten, abandoned, or otherwise lost by-various persons," and which were allegedly in the possession of defendant. The state, not knowing who the previous owners were, submitted interrogatories to defendant which were designed to discover exactly what was in defendant's possession, and who had been the last known owners thereof. The state based its claim on the statutes and on the common law doctrine of bona vacantia. Defendant's demurrer was sustained. On appeal, held, affirmed. The state has no cause of action under the statutes, and there is no common law right of bona vacantia, because there is no allegation that a definitely named article of personal property was held without any known owner nor that a definitely known person had died or disappeared leaving a chose in action and having no known heirs. The interrogatories were not allowed because they were instituted for the purpose of obtaining information on which to base a subsequent proceeding, which subsequent proceeding would be dependent on the information obtained in the first proceeding. State v. Phillips Petroleum Co., (Ark. 1947) 206 S.W. (2d) 771.

Recommended Citation

N. S. Peterman, ESHHEAT-BONA VACANTIA-RIGHT OF STATE TO CLAIM UNCLAIMED ROYALTY PAYMENTS OF A CORPORATION, 46 Mich. L. Rev. 1116 (1948).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol46/iss8/15