Escheatment Laws in West Virginia By Randy Cole, Suttle & Stalnaker, PLLC With recent changes to unclaimed property laws in West Virginia, now is a good time for a refresher on the escheatment laws currently in place to ensure your bank is in compliance. Notable changes to laws over the last few years include reduced dormancy periods for certain property types and guidelines on dormancy periods for virtual currency. Unclaimed property is any asset that has remained unclaimed for a specific period of time, such as unredeemed stock, a check that was never cashed or contents of a safe deposit box. This typically happens when an owner cannot be located after a period of time known as the dormancy period. The state then becomes the custodian of the unclaimed property. Banks must report and remit unclaimed property to the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office, where it is held until the rightful owner, or their heirs, come forward to claim it. Under the West Virginia Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, unclaimed property must be reported to the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office by November 1 of each year. Specific guidelines for the abandonment of various types of property that banks may typically hold are as follows: • Traveler’s checks are abandoned 15 years after issuance. Money orders are abandoned seven years after issuance. • Stock or other equity interest in a business association or financial organization is abandoned five years after the earlier of (1) the date of the most recent dividend, stock split or other distribution unclaimed by the apparent owner or (2) the date of the second mailing of a statement of account or other notification or communication that was returned as undeliverable or after the holder discontinued mailings, notifications or communications to the apparent owner. • A demand, savings or time deposit, including a deposit that is automatically renewable, is abandoned five years after the maturity of the deposit. A deposit that is automatically renewable is deemed matured on its initial date of maturity unless the owner consented in a record on file with the holder to renew at or about the time of the renewal. • Property in an individual retirement account, defined benefit plan or other account or plan that is qualified for tax deferral under the income tax laws of the United States is abandoned three years after the earliest date of the distribution or attempted distribution of the property, the date of the required distribution as stated in the plan or trust agreement governing the plan, or the date, if determinable by the holder, specified in the income tax laws by which distribution of the property must begin in order to avoid a tax penalty. • Tangible personal property held in a safe deposit box or other safekeeping depository in West Virginia in the ordinary course of the holder’s business and proceeds resulting from the sale of the property permitted by other law are presumed abandoned if the property 10 West Virginia Banker
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