Michael Houghton Quoted in Delaware State News and The News Journal on Temple-Inland Settlement Impact on Delaware Unclaimed Property Program
On Friday, August 5, Delaware and Temple-Inland settled a lawsuit challenging the state’s collection of unclaimed money orders. Morris Nichols partner Michael Houghton spoke with Delaware State News and The News Journal regarding the consequences of the litigation and the settlement, noting this and other lawsuits challenging the state’s unclaimed property practices “continue to cast a real cloud over the Delaware program.”
“With literally hundreds of audits pending in the state of Delaware, I guess it waits to be seen how or when or if Delaware modifies its unclaimed property audit program and its voluntary disclosure program,” he told The News Journal. He noted that changes to the program will have to be “carefully studied and managed with significant input and thought” and told the Delaware State News that “[e]ven if there are changes made by the state to address the opinion, … a loss of additional revenue is inevitable.”
Mike has advised Fortune 500 companies and others on unclaimed property issues for more than 25 years. He is co-chair of the Uniform Laws Commission Drafting Committee to Revise the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act.