Calif. Life Insurers Get Relief From Unclaimed Property Law

On July 17, 2018, the California Superior Court in San Francisco ordered declaratory and injunctive relief against the Office of the California State Controller in connection with the controller’s regulation of life’s insurers’ compliance with California’s Unclaimed Property Law, or UPL. Specifically, the court held that the California Controller had improperly promulgated two regulations imposing requirements on life insurers under the UPL. The court invalidated the following “underground” regulations, which the controller adopted without complying with the procedural requirements of the California Administrative Procedure Act.