West Virginia Code § 36-8-2

Presumptions of abandonment
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(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 mailingas, 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; i
(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 obliga tion 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 attempteud 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; a
(15) Warrants for payment issued by the State of Wlest Virginia which have not been
presented for payment, within six months of thse date of issuance;
(16) All funds held by a fiduciary, includingi 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 e ntity engaged in virtual currency business activity, three years after the
owner's last inVdication 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 properety 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 oaf 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 l
(5) For demand, savings and time deposits held by a financial organization, any indication of
the owner's interest in any demand, savingis and time deposit held by the financial
organization for that owner is an indgication 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.

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