West Virginia Code 36-8-14 – Claim of another state to recover property
(a) After property has been paid or delivered to the administrator under this article, another state may recover the property if:
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 36-8-14
- Administrator: means the State Treasurer. See West Virginia Code 36-8-1
- Apparent owner: means a person whose name appears on the records of a holder as the person entitled to property held, issued, or owing by the holder. See West Virginia Code 36-8-1
- Domicile: means the state of incorporation of a corporation and the state of the principal place of business of a holder other than a corporation. See West Virginia Code 36-8-1
- Escheat: Reversion of real or personal property to the state when 1) a person dies without leaving a will and has no heirs, or 2) when the property (such as a bank account) has been inactive for a certain period of time. Source: OCC
- Holder: means a person obligated to hold for the account of, or deliver or pay to, the owner property that is subject to this article. See West Virginia Code 36-8-1
- Laws of the state: includes the Constitution of the State of West Virginia and the Constitution of the United States, and treaties and laws made in pursuance thereof. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Money order: includes an express money order and a personal money order, on which the remitter is the purchaser. See West Virginia Code 36-8-1
- Owner: means a person who has a legal or equitable interest in property subject to this article or the person's legal representative. See West Virginia Code 36-8-1
- Person: means an individual, business association, financial organization, estate, trust, government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. See West Virginia Code 36-8-1
- Property: means tangible personal property described in section three of this article or a fixed and certain interest in intangible personal property that is held, issued, or owed in the course of a holder's business, or by a government, governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality, and all income or increments therefrom. See West Virginia Code 36-8-1
- State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See West Virginia Code 36-8-1
(1) The property was paid or delivered to the custody of this state because the records of the holder did not reflect a last known location of the apparent owner within the borders of the other state and the other state establishes that the apparent owner or other person entitled to the property was last known to be located within the borders of that state and under the laws of that state the property has escheated or become subject to a claim of abandonment by that state;
(2) The property was paid or delivered to the custody of this state because the laws of the other state did not provide for the escheat or custodial taking of the property, and under the laws of that state subsequently enacted the property has escheated or become subject to a claim of abandonment by that state;
(3) The records of the holder were erroneous in that they did not accurately identify the owner of the property and the last known location of the owner within the borders of another state and under the laws of that state the property has escheated or become subject to a claim of abandonment by that state;
(4) The property was subjected to custody by this state under subdivision (6), section four of this article and under the laws of the state of domicile of the holder the property has escheated or become subject to a claim of abandonment by that state; or
(5) The property is a sum payable on a traveler's check, money order or similar instrument that was purchased in the other state and delivered into the custody of this state under subdivision (7), section four of this article, and under the laws of the other state the property has escheated or become subject to a claim of abandonment by that state.
(b) A claim of another state to recover escheated or abandoned property must be presented in a form prescribed by the administrator, who shall decide the claim within ninety days after it is presented. The administrator shall allow the claim upon determining that the other state is entitled to the abandoned property under subsection (a) of this section.
(c) The administrator shall require another state, before recovering property under this section, to agree to indemnify this state and its officers and employees against any liability on a claim to the property.