Subject to the provisions of article L. 6145-12, unclaimed items are handed over, one year after the departure or death of their holder, to the Caisse des dépôts et consignations in the case of sums of money, securities and transferable securities or, in the case of other movable property, to the administration in charge of the estates for the purpose of being put up for sale.
The administration in charge of the estates may, under the conditions laid down by regulation, refuse to hand over items whose value is less than the foreseeable costs of sale. In this case, the items become the property of the holding institution.
However, private deeds recording claims or debts are kept, as custodians, by the establishments where the persons were admitted or accommodated for a period of five years following the discharge or death of the persons concerned. At the end of this period, the documents may be destroyed.
The amount of the sale as well as the sums of money, the securities and the securities and their proceeds are automatically acquired by the Treasury five years after the transfer by the administration in charge of the estates or the handover to the Caisse des dépôts et consignations, if no claim has been made in the meantime by the owner, his representatives or his creditors.