§2206. Escheat to tribe of trust or restricted or controlled lands; fractional interest; Indian tribal code

(a) Escheat to tribe; rebuttable presumption

No undivided interest held by a member or nonmember Indian in any tract of trust land or restricted land within a tribe's reservation or outside of a reservation and subject to such tribe's jurisdiction shall descend by intestacy or devise but shall escheat to the reservation's recognized tribal government, or if outside of a reservation, to the recognized tribal government possessing jurisdiction over the land if such interest represents 2 per centum or less of the total acreage in such tract and is incapable of earning $100 in any one of the five years from the date of decedent's death. Where the fractional interest has earned to its owner less than $100 in any one of the five years before the decedent's death, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that such interest is incapable of earning $100 in any one of the five years following the death of the decedent.

(b) Escheatable fractional interest

Nothing in this section shall prohibit the devise of such an escheatable fractional interest to any other owner of an undivided fractional interest in such parcel or tract of trust or restricted land.

(c) Adoption of Indian tribal code

Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, any Indian tribe may, subject to the approval of the Secretary, adopt its own code of laws to govern the disposition of interests that are escheatable under this section, and such codes or laws shall take precedence over the escheat provisions of subsection (a) of this section, provided, the Secretary shall not approve any code or law that fails to accomplish the purpose of preventing further descent or fractionation of such escheatable interests.

( Pub. L. 97–459, title II, §207, Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2519 ; Pub. L. 98–608, §1(4), Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 3172 ; Pub. L. 101–644, title III, §301(a), Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 4666 .)

Amendments

1990-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 101–644 substituted "No undivided interest held by a member or nonmember Indian in any tract of trust land or restricted land within a tribe's reservation or outside of a reservation and subject to such tribe's jurisdiction shall descend by intestacy or devise but shall escheat to the reservation's recognized tribal government, or if outside of a reservation, to the recognized tribal government possessing jurisdiction over the land" for "No undivided interest in any tract of trust or restricted land within a tribe's reservation or otherwise subject to a tribe's jurisdiction shall descend by intestacy or devise but shall escheat to that tribe".

1984-Pub. L. 98–608 amended section generally, designating existing provisions as subsec. (a), striking out "fractional" before "interest in any tract", substituting "descend" for "descendent" before "by intestacy or devise", and "is incapable of earning $100 in any one of the five years from the date of decedent's death" for "has earned to its owner less than $100 in the preceding year before it is due to escheat", and inserting second sentence and adding subsecs. (b) and (c).