Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 54 Part 1.djvu/793

 54 STAT.] 76TH CONG. , 3D SESS. -CH. 618 -JULY 12, 1940 for the payment of the decedent's debts incurred in such country, and funeral expenses, and expenses incident to the disposition of the estate. If, at the expiration of one year from the date of death (or for such additional period as may be required for final settlement of the estate) no claimant shall appear, the residue of the estate, with the exception of investments of bonds, shares of stocks, notes of indebtedness, jewelry or heirlooms, or other articles having a senti- mental value, shall be sold. "Fifth. To transmit to the General Accounting Office the proceeds of the sale (and any unsold effects, such as investments of bonds, shares of stocks, notes of indebtedness, jewelry or heirlooms, or other articles having a sentimental value), there to be held in trust for the legal claimant. If, however, at any time prior to such transmission, the decedent's legal representative should appear and demand the proceeds and effects in the officer's hands, he shall deliver them to such representative after having collected the prescribed fee therefor. "The Comptroller General of the United States, or such member of the General Accounting Office as he may duly empower to act as his representative for the purpose, shall act as conservator of such parts of these estates as may be received by the General Accounting Office or are in its possession, and may, when deemed to be in the interest of the estate, sell such effects, including bonds, shares of stock, notes of indebtedness, jewelry, or other articles, which have heretofore or may hereafter be so received, and pay the expenses of such sale out of the proceeds: Provided, That application for such effects shall not have been made by the legal claimant within six years after their receipt. The Comptroller General is authorized, for and in behalf of the estate of the deceased, to receive any balances due to such estates, to draw therefor on banks, safe deposits, trust or loan com- panies, or other like institutions, to endorse all checks, bills of exchange, promissory notes, and other evidences of indebtedness due to such estates, and take such other action as may be deemed neces- sary for the conservation of such estates. The net proceeds of such sales, together with such other moneys as may be collected by him, shall be deposited into the Treasury to a fund in trust for the legal claimant and reported to the Secretary of State. "If no claim to the effects the proceeds of which have been so deposited shall have been received from a legal claimant of the deceased within six years from the date of the receipt of the effects by the General Accounting Office, the funds so deposited, with any remaining unsold effects, less transmittal charges, shall be trans- mitted by that office to the proper officer of the State or Territory of the last domicile in the United States of the deceased citizen, if known, or, if not, such funds shall be covered into the general fund of the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts on account of proceeds of deceased citizens, and any such remaining unsold effects shall be disposed of by the General Accounting Office in such manner as, in the judgment of the Comptroller General, is deemed appropriate, or they may be destroyed if considered no longer possessed of any value: Provided, That when the estate shall be valued in excess of $500, and no claim therefor has been presented to the General Accounting Office by a legal claimant within the period specified in this paragraph or the legal claimant is unknown, before disposition of the estate as provided herein, notice shall be given by publishing once a week for four consecutive weeks in a newspaper published in the county of the last known domicile of the deceased, in the United States, the expense thereof to be deducted from the proceeds of such estate, and any lawful claim received as the result of such advertise- ment shall be adjusted and settled as provided for herein. 759 Sale of residue of estate; bonds, etc., excepted. Transmission of pro- ceeds, etc., to General Accounting Office. Powers of Comp- troller General. Sale of effects, etc. Prowiso. When effects un- claimed; time. Receipt of balances due estates, etc. Deposit of funds; re- port to Secretary of State. Disposition of un- claimed proceeds, etc. PrEoiso. Notice by publicas tion.

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