legal
GoFundNode — Dormancy and Escheatment Policy
Superseded by ADR-046 (2026-06-03). This document reflects the prior crypto-first posture, which is no longer GA scope. See ADR-046.
TEMPLATE — REQUIRES RETAINED COUNSEL REVIEW BEFORE PRODUCTION USE. NOT LEGAL ADVICE.
Effective date: TBD upon counsel sign-off.
Document owner: JuiceVendor Labs inc. (operating the GoFundNode service).
Source-of-truth: docs/architecture/GOFUNDNODE_ADRS.md (ADR-027 credit blocks, ADR-038 sanctions, ADR-045 gift-card), CLAUDE.md §1, the Operator Contractor Agreement §4, and §14.1 of the Legal Handoff.
This policy governs how the Platform handles balances and pending earnings that have become dormant. The governing principle is no silent forfeiture (§14.1 of the Legal Handoff). Where balances are not actively claimed and are otherwise legally subject to transfer, they are routed through escheatment or held in segregated account with documented justification — never silently retained by the Platform as a default.
1. Scope and rationale
1.1 The policy covers:
- Tenant aggregate credit balances (unconsumed credits held in
gfn_tenants.credit_balance). - Operator pending earnings (
gfn_operator_rewardsrows in pending/unpaid status). - Inactive account balances (operator or tenant) where the underlying account has been inactive for 18 months.
1.2 The policy does not cover:
- In-flight credit block reservations (handled by ADR-027 expiry-and-refund-to-aggregate). Those are returned to the tenant aggregate balance, which then becomes subject to this policy.
- F-tier forfeiture under the Operator Agreement (handled by Operator Agreement §4 due process). Forfeited residuals after harm remediation route back into this policy.
- OFAC-blocked sanctions assets (handled separately under sanctions law; blocked, not platform-retained — see §6).
2. Trigger thresholds and notice cadence
2.1 The Platform shall provide three notices in cadence before any non-OFAC, non-F-tier-clawback escheatment or hold:
| Notice | Trigger | Delivery |
|---|---|---|
| First notice (T+12 mo inactivity) | Account has had no login, no API activity, and no payout claim for 12 months. | Email to the contact-on-file, registered subject line [GoFundNode] Dormant balance — please confirm. Includes balance, last activity timestamp, instructions for reclaim. |
| Second notice (T+15 mo) | First notice issued + no response within 3 months. | Email + (operators only) in-app banner on next master-node launch. |
| Final notice (T+18 mo) | Second notice + no response within 3 months. | Email with subject line [GoFundNode] Final notice — escheatment scheduled. Includes the jurisdiction, the date escheatment will occur (≥30 days from notice), and final reclaim instructions. |
2.2 Notice failure (bounce, undeliverable) does not satisfy notice requirement under most escheatment regimes. The Platform will treat bounce as a duty to attempt a second channel (e.g., LinkedIn for operators with on-file LinkedIn handle, GitHub-attached email for OSS contributor operators, or the on-chain wallet's most recent on-platform pubkey for operators with wallet-only contact). The audit row records the bounce and the additional channels attempted.
2.3 No notice is required for:
- OFAC SDN match — assets are blocked under sanctions law; no notice to the blocked party.
- F-tier clawback after due process — Operator Agreement §4 supplies the due process; this policy receives any residual that survives the clawback.
3. Escheatment routing
3.1 Where notice is successfully issued and the cure period has expired without action, the residual balance is escheated to the appropriate jurisdictional authority, with the determination of that authority following the priority below:
| Priority | Determination | Where routed |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Operator's or tenant's jurisdiction of residence / organization, where that jurisdiction has an unclaimed-property regime. | The jurisdictional unclaimed-property administrator (e.g., U.S. state administrator under UPHEAA; analogous EU / national equivalents). |
| 2 | If the jurisdiction of residence has no unclaimed-property regime but the Platform's jurisdiction (Estonia) does. | Estonia under its commercial code unclaimed-property provisions. |
| 3 | If neither jurisdiction has an escheatment regime applicable to the asset class. | Segregated hold (see §4) with documented rationale and annual published roll-forward. |
3.2 The Platform shall maintain a registry per jurisdiction of escheatment cadence, contact, and remitted balances. This registry is published annually (anonymized as required by the receiving jurisdiction) in the GoFundNode transparency log.
3.3 For balances in USDC on Solana, escheatment to a U.S. state administrator is processed by converting USDC to the receiving administrator's required medium (typically USD wire) at the Platform's cost. The conversion is documented and the Platform absorbs the exchange/network fees rather than reducing the escheated amount.
4. Segregated hold (priority-3 jurisdictions)
4.1 Where escheatment is not legally available (priority 3 above), the residual balance is held in a segregated account distinct from the Platform's operating treasury, with the following characteristics:
- Separate Solana sub-treasury (segregated pubkey, recorded as such).
- Annual roll-forward report published in the GoFundNode transparency log, listing the aggregate held, the count of accounts (anonymized), and the jurisdictions.
- A claimant on a held balance may at any time present identity verification and reclaim the funds, subject to sanctions screening per
ADR-038.
4.2 The Platform does not earn interest on held balances for its own benefit. If yield accrues on the segregated sub-treasury, that yield is held with the principal and is included in any reclaim.
4.3 Segregated holds are reviewed annually for re-routing if the jurisdiction subsequently establishes an escheatment regime.
5. No silent forfeiture
5.1 The Platform shall not silently forfeit dormant balances as a default. §14.1 of the Legal Handoff is binding architectural posture and this policy is its operational form.
5.2 Forfeiture (i.e., the Platform retaining the balance for its own account) is permitted only in three narrow circumstances:
- (a) OFAC SDN match. Asset is blocked under sanctions law, which is structurally distinct from forfeiture: the Platform does not earn or retain the asset; the Platform is custodian of a blocked asset pending OFAC license or delisting. See §6.
- (b) F-tier clawback after due process. Per Operator Agreement §4, residual after harm remediation routes through this policy (not retained by the Platform).
- (c) Jurisdiction's statute of limitations on dormant funds explicitly transfers title to the holder. Even in this case, the Platform shall record the transfer with documentation, audit row, and annual publication. Silent retention without this documentation is prohibited.
5.3 The audit row is mandatory. Every notice, every escheatment, every clawback, every hold, every reclaim is recorded in gfn_dormancy_events (or equivalent table per L1's data-management schema). Loss of audit data is a launch-gate failure (see docs/legal/GA_GATE_CHECKLIST.md item Tier-1).
6. Sanctions-blocked balances (distinct path)
6.1 OFAC SDN match or comprehensive-sanctions jurisdiction match freezes the account per ADR-038 and Operator Agreement §6.
6.2 Frozen-sanctions assets are blocked, not platform-retained or escheated. They remain on the Platform's books in a sanctions-block sub-treasury until released by OFAC license, OFAC delisting, or operator-side legal process resolving the match.
6.3 Block records are reportable to OFAC per applicable rules; the Platform's compliance lead is responsible for the reporting cadence and form.
7. F-tier clawback (cross-reference)
7.1 Operator Agreement §4 supplies the due process for F-tier (good-faith determination, freeze, notice with evidence, 14-day appeal window, final determination).
7.2 On final F-tier determination, the Platform may forfeit pending unpaid earnings in proportion to the harm caused. Forfeited amounts route first to make the affected tenant or applicant whole.
7.3 Residual after harm remediation routes through this policy (notice → escheatment / segregated hold). The Platform does not retain the residual silently.
8. Reclaim mechanics
8.1 An account holder may reclaim funds at any time prior to escheatment by:
- Logging in to the account (operators: master-node app; tenants: tenant dashboard).
- Confirming identity per ordinary KYC mechanics (tenant: HMAC + admin contact verification; operator: TIN + W-9 if not previously provided).
- Initiating a payout / refund request through the standard API.
8.2 After escheatment, the holder must claim through the receiving jurisdiction's unclaimed-property administrator (e.g., the relevant U.S. state).
8.3 For balances in segregated hold (§4), the holder may claim at any time through the Platform's reclaim endpoint, subject to sanctions screening.
9. Operational checklist
The dormancy program is operational when:
gfn_dormancy_eventstable exists and is audit-clean (L1 schema lane).- Notice templates approved by counsel.
- Sub-treasury pubkeys segregated and documented in 1Password vault.
- Escheatment registry (per jurisdiction) compiled and approved by counsel.
- Annual transparency log publication cadence agreed.
- Counsel-reviewed bounce handling protocol approved.
These items appear in docs/legal/GA_GATE_CHECKLIST.md Tier 1 #6.
10. References
CLAUDE.md§1 (compliance defends product).docs/architecture/GOFUNDNODE_ADRS.md:- ADR-027 (credit blocks expiry refunds to aggregate)
- ADR-038 (sanctions)
- ADR-045 (gift-card rail conditional)
docs/legal/terms/CUSTOMER_TOS.md§4.docs/legal/terms/OPERATOR_CONTRACTOR_AGREEMENT.md§4, §11.docs/legal/COUNSEL_QUESTIONS.md§12.6, §12.7.- §14.1 of the Legal Handoff (binding architectural posture: no silent forfeiture).
END — TEMPLATE — REQUIRES RETAINED COUNSEL REVIEW BEFORE PRODUCTION USE. NOT LEGAL ADVICE.