2023 Nevada Revised Statutes › Chapter 120A - Unclaimed Property (Uniform Act) › NRS 120A.500 - Presumption of abandonment.

1. Except as otherwise provided in subsections 6, 7 and 8, property is presumed abandoned if it is unclaimed by the apparent owner during the time set forth below for the particular property:
(a) A traveler’s check, 15 years after issuance;
(b) A money order, 7 years after issuance;
(c) Any stock or other equity interest in a business association or financial organization, including a security entitlement under NRS 104.8101 to 104.8511, inclusive, 3 years after the date of the last indication by the owner of interest in the property;
(d) Any debt of a business association or financial organization, other than a bearer bond or an original issue discount bond, 3 years after the date of the most recent interest payment unclaimed by the apparent owner;
(e) A demand or savings deposit, 3 years after the date of the last indication by the owner of interest in the property;
(f) Time deposits, 3 years after:
(1) The date of maturity for time deposits that are not automatically renewable; or
(2) The date of maturity, after the first renewal of the time deposit, for time deposits that are automatically renewable, unless the owner has consented to a subsequent renewal at or about the time of any such subsequent renewal and the consent is in writing or is evidenced by a memorandum or other record on file with the holder;
(g) Except as otherwise provided in NRS 120A.520, any money or credits owed to a customer as a result of a retail business transaction, 3 years after the obligation accrued;
(h) Any amount owed by an insurance company on a life or endowment insurance policy or an annuity contract, including, without limitation, any amount in a retained asset account, 3 years after the earliest of:
(1) The date of the death of the insured or annuitant;
(2) The maturity date of the insurance policy or annuity contract; or
(3) The date that the insured would have attained, if living, the limiting age under the mortality table on which the reserve is based;
(i) Any amount owed by an insurance company on a policy or contract not described in paragraph (h), 3 years after the obligation to pay arose under the terms of the policy or contract;
(j) Any property distributable by a business association or financial organization in a course of dissolution, 1 year after the property becomes distributable;
(k) Any property received by a court as proceeds of a class action and not distributed pursuant to the judgment, 1 year after the distribution date;
(l) Except as otherwise provided in NRS 607.170 and 703.375, any property held by a court, government, governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality, 1 year after the property becomes distributable;
(m) Any wages or other compensation for personal services, 1 year after the compensation becomes payable;
(n) A deposit or refund owed to a subscriber by a utility, 1 year after the deposit or refund becomes payable;
(o) Any property in an individual retirement account, defined benefit plan or other account or plan established for retirement purposes, 3 years after:
(1) If the account or plan is tax-deferred or tax-exempt, the date that the owner would have reached the age of required minimum distribution pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code; or
(2) If the account or plan is not tax-deferred or tax-exempt, the date that the property becomes distributable;
(p) The trust liability of a trust fund established with respect to a prepaid contract for funeral services or burial services as required by chapter 689 of NRS, 3 years after the earliest of:
(1) The date the holder has knowledge of the death of the beneficiary named in or otherwise ascertainable from the prepaid contract; or
(2) The date the beneficiary named in or otherwise ascertainable from the prepaid contract has attained, or would have attained if living, the age of 105 years; and
(q) All other property, 3 years after the owner’s right to demand the property or after the obligation to pay or distribute the property arises, whichever first occurs.
2. At the time that an interest is presumed abandoned under subsection 1, 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.
3. Property is unclaimed if, for the applicable period set forth in subsection 1, 7 or 8, as applicable, the apparent owner has not communicated, in writing or by other means reflected in a contemporaneous record prepared by the holder or an agent 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 an agent of the holder who has not in writing identified the property to the owner is not an indication of interest in the property by the owner.
4. An indication of an owner’s interest in property:
(a) 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) Activity directed by an apparent owner in the account in which the property is held, including accessing the account or information concerning the account or a direction by the apparent owner to increase, decrease or change the amount or type of property held in the account;
(3) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b), 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;
(5) The signing of a return receipt by the apparent owner for notice provided pursuant to NRS 120A.560; and
(6) The execution of a Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting, Form W-8BEN of the Internal Revenue Service, by the owner for purposes of a security where the last-known address of the owner is in a foreign country; and
(b) Does not include the making of an automatically renewable:
(1) Deposit, if the deposit is made by the holder or an agent of the holder; or
(2) Withdrawal, if the withdrawal is made by the holder or an agent of the holder.
For the purposes of this subsection, an action by an agent or other representative of the apparent owner, other than the holder or an agent of the holder acting as the agent of the apparent owner, is presumed to be an action on behalf of the apparent owner.
5. Property is payable or distributable for purposes of this chapter notwithstanding the owner’s failure to make demand or present an instrument or document otherwise required to obtain payment.
6. The following property clearly designated as such must not be presumed abandoned because of inactivity or failure to make a demand:
(a) An account or asset managed through a guardianship;
(b) An account blocked at the direction of a court;
(c) A trust account established to address a special need;
(d) A qualified income trust account;
(e) A trust account established for tuition purposes; and
(f) A trust account established on behalf of a client.
7. For property described in paragraph (p) of subsection 1, if the holder does not have knowledge of the death of the beneficiary named in or otherwise ascertainable from the prepaid contract for funeral services or burial services and the holder does not know the date of birth of the beneficiary, the property described in that paragraph is presumed abandoned:
(a) Forty years after the date the prepaid contract for funeral services or burial services was executed; or
(b) Three years after the last indication by the owner of interest in the property,
whichever is later.
8. For property described in paragraphs (c) to (f), inclusive, (o) and (q) of subsection 1, the property is presumed abandoned 3 years after the date described in each of those paragraphs or the date on which the holder has knowledge of the death of the owner, whichever is earlier.
9. The provisions of paragraph (h) of subsection 1 apply to a life or endowment insurance policy or an annuity contract, regardless of whether the policy or contract is matured, unmatured, or terminated.
10. For purposes of this section, a person has knowledge of the death of a person when the person:
(a) Receives proof of death of the person;
(b) Reasonably determines the death of a person pursuant to NRS 688D.090; or
(c) Otherwise validates, in good faith, the death of the person.
11. As used in this section:
(a) "Proof of death" has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 672.210.
(b) "Retained asset account" has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 688D.060.
(Added to NRS by 2007, 757; A 2009, 1663; 2011, 2596; 2019, 3014; 2021, 77; 2023, 1052)