Cite as: 507 U. S. 490 (1993)
Opinion of the Court
originator of the distribution is known," the Master recommended that the originator's State be awarded the right to escheat, "whether or not the originator would have been entitled to receive the funds back in its own right." Report of Special Master 57. Because he construed the use of the terms "debtor" and "creditor" in Texas and Pennsylvania as a merely "descriptive . . . attempt to identify the relevant parties" rather than "prescriptive legal commands," Report of Special Master 29, the Master defined "debtor" as "the last owner of the funds, in the sense of the last person who had a claim to the funds as an asset that would appropriately be reflected in the net worth of the entity in question," id., at 32. In its first exception, Delaware argues that "the Report's recommendation in this regard does not comport with the ordinary meaning of the words 'debtor' and 'creditor,' is inconsistent with universally-accepted state and common law and with the principles underlying the Texas rule, and changes the law in an area where the law should be settled." Exceptions and Brief for Plaintiff Delaware E-4. Delaware also objects to the Master's failure to "ascrib[e] . . . legal relevance to [intermediaries'] status as record security holders," a "fundamental factual error" that effectively treats record owners "as if they were paying agents." Id., at E-5. New York's first exception likewise objects to the Master's use of "the term 'debtor' as 'shorthand' to identify parties with 'debtor attributes' rather than the obligor of the debt." Exceptions of Defendant New York 52. We agree with both States and sustain their exceptions.
We have not relied on legal definitions of "creditor" and "debtor" merely for descriptive convenience. Rather, we have grounded the concepts of "creditor" and "debtor" in the positive law that gives rise to the property at issue. In framing a State's power of escheat, we must first look to the law that creates property and binds persons to honor property rights. "Property interests, of course, are not created by the Constitution," but rather "by existing rules or under-
501
Page: Index Previous 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007