Section 36-8-2 - Presumptions of abandonment(a) Property is presumed abandoned if it is unclaimed by the apparent owner during the time set forth below for the particular property: (1) Traveler's check, 15 years after issuance;(2) Money order, seven years after issuance;(3) Stock or other equity interest in a business association or financial organization, including a security entitlement under article eight of the uniform commercial code, five years after the earlier of: (i) The date of the most recent dividend, stock split, or other distribution unclaimed by the apparent owner; or (ii) 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;(4) Debt of a business association or financial organization, other than a bearer bond or an original issue discount bond, three years after the date of the most recent interest payment unclaimed by the apparent owner;(5) A demand, savings, or time deposit, including a deposit that is automatically renewable, five years after the maturity of the deposit, except a deposit that is automatically renewable is deemed matured on its initial date of maturity unless the apparent owner consented in a record on file with the holder to renewal at or about the time of the renewal;(6) Money or credits owed to a customer as a result of a retail business transaction, three years after the obligation accrued;(7) Gift certificate, three years after December 31, of the year in which the certificate was sold, but if redeemable in merchandise only, the amount abandoned is deemed to be 60 percent of the certificate's face value;(8) Amount owed by an insurer on a life or endowment insurance policy or an annuity that has matured or terminated, three years after the obligation to pay arose or, in the case of a policy or annuity payable upon proof of death, three years after the insured has attained, or would have attained if living, the limiting age under the mortality table on which the reserve is based;(9) Property distributable by a business association or financial organization in a course of dissolution, one year after the property becomes distributable;(10) Property received by a court as proceeds of a class action, and not distributed pursuant to the judgment, one year after the distribution date;(11) Property held by a court, government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, one year after the property becomes distributable;(12) Wages or other compensation for personal services, one year after the compensation becomes payable;(13) Deposit or refund owed to a subscriber by a utility, one year after the deposit or refund becomes payable;(14) 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, three years after the earliest of the 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 of the United States by which distribution of the property must begin in order to avoid a tax penalty;(15) Warrants for payment issued by the State of West Virginia which have not been presented for payment, within six months of the date of issuance;(16) All funds held by a fiduciary, including the state Municipal Bond Commission, for the payment of a note, bond, debenture, or other evidence or indebtedness, three years after the principal maturity date, or if such note, bond, debenture, or evidence of indebtedness is called for redemption on an earlier date, then the redemption date, such premium or redemption date to also be applicable to all interest and premium, if any, attributable to such note, bond, debenture, or other evidence of indebtedness;(17) Any virtual currency held or owing by any banking organization, corporation, custodian, exchange, or other entity engaged in virtual currency business activity, three years after the owner's last indication of interest in the property; and(18) All other property, three years after the owner's right to demand the property or after the obligation to pay or distribute the property arises, whichever first occurs.(b) At the time that an interest is presumed abandoned under subsection (a) of this section, any other property right accrued or accruing to the owner as a result of the interest, and not previously presumed abandoned, is also presumed abandoned.(c) Property is unclaimed if, for the applicable period set forth in subsection (a) of this section, the apparent owner has not communicated in writing or by other means reflected in a contemporaneous record prepared by or on behalf of the holder, with the holder concerning the property or the account in which the property is held, and has not otherwise indicated an interest in the property. A communication with an owner by a person other than the holder or its representative who has not in writing identified the property to the owner is not an indication of interest in the property by the owner.(d) An indication of an owner's interest in property includes: (1) The presentment of a check or other instrument of payment of a dividend or other distribution made with respect to an account or underlying stock or other interest in a business association or financial organization or, in the case of a distribution made by electronic or similar means, evidence that the distribution has been received;(2) Owner-directed activity in the account in which the property is held, including a direction by the owner to increase, decrease, or change the amount or type of property held in the account;(3) The making of a deposit to or withdrawal from a bank account;(4) The payment of a premium with respect to a property interest in an insurance policy; but the application of an automatic premium loan provision or other nonforfeiture provision contained in an insurance policy does not prevent a policy from maturing or terminating if the insured has died or the insured or the beneficiary of the policy has otherwise become entitled to the proceeds before the depletion of the cash surrender value of a policy by the application of those provisions; and(5) For demand, savings and time deposits held by a financial organization, any indication of the owner's interest in any demand, savings and time deposit held by the financial organization for that owner is an indication of the owner's interest in all demand, savings, and time deposits held by that financial organization.(e) Property is payable or distributable for purposes of this article notwithstanding the owner's failure to make demand or present an instrument or document otherwise required to obtain payment.Amended by 2022 Acts, ch. 282 (HB 4511), eff. 6/10/2022.Amended by 2019 Acts, ch. 108 (HB 2609), eff. 6/2/2019.