H.R. 8338, the SAFER Act of 2026, limits when financial institutions can turn over a customer’s securities, digital assets, or investment accounts to states under “unclaimed property” (escheatment) laws. For accounts held by individuals, it generally blocks escheatment unless the institution confirms the person’s death at least three years earlier and hasn’t received any indication that a fiduciary has claimed an interest for that same period; if there are other owners, the bill requires death confirmation for them as well. For businesses and other non-individual owners, it bars escheatment if the institution has had no contact with a representative for at least five years. The bill also requires institutions to check death records at five-year intervals for certain inactive retirement-age accounts, allows institutions to confirm deaths with a death certificate or other legal documents, and preempts conflicting state or local escheatment rules while not stopping states from communicating with institutions or owners from seeking remedies for mishandling. It applies to covered assets held on or after enactment that have not already been turned over to the state under existing escheatment actions.
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