§ 66-29-105 — Presumption of abandonment of various types of property

(a) Except as otherwise provided in § 66-29-113 , property is presumed abandoned if it is unclaimed by the apparent owner at the time specified for the following property: (1) A traveler's check, fifteen (15) years after issuance; (2) A money order, seven (7) years after issuance; (3) A state or municipal bond, a bearer bond, or an original-issue-discount bond, three (3) years after the earlier of the date the bond matures or the date the bond is called or the obligation to pay the principal of the bond arises; (4) A debt of a business association, three (3) years after the obligation to pay arises; (5) A payroll card or demand, savings, or a time deposit, including a deposit that is automatically renewable, three (3) years after the earlier of maturity or the date of the last indication of interest in the property by the apparent owner; provided, that 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 a 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, other than in-store credit for returned merchandise, three (3) years after the obligation arose; (7) An amount owed by an insurance company on a life or endowment insurance policy or an annuity contract that has matured or terminated, three (3) years after the obligation to pay arose under the terms of the policy or contract or, if a policy or contract for which an amount is owed on proof of death has not matured by proof of death of the insured or annuitant, three (3) years after the earlier of the date: (A) The insurance company has knowledge of the death of the insured or annuitant; or (B) The insured has attained, or would have attained if living, the limiting age under the mortality table on which the reserve for the policy or contract is based; (8) Property distributable by a business association in the course of dissolution, one (1) year after the property becomes distributable; (9) Property held by a court, including property received as proceeds of a class action, one (1) year after the property becomes distributable; (10) Property held by a government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, including municipal bond interest and unredeemed principal under the administration of a paying agent or indenture trustee, one (1) year after the property becomes distributable; (11) Wages, commissions, bonuses, or reimbursements as to which an employee is entitled, or other compensation for personal services, other than amounts held in a payroll card, one (1) year after the amount becomes payable; (12) A deposit or refund owed to a subscriber by a utility, one (1) year after the deposit or refund becomes payable; (13) Property payable or distributable in the course of the demutualization of an insurance company, three (3) years after the earlier of the date of last contact with the policyholder or the date the property became payable or distributable; and (14) All other property not specified in this section or § 66-29-106 , § 66-29-107 , § 66-29-108 , § 66-29-109 , § 66-29-110 , or § 66-29-111 , the earlier of three (3) years after the owner first has a right to demand the property or the obligation to pay or distribute the property arises. (b) Notwithstanding § 66-29-113 , property whose owner is known to the holder to have died and left no one to take the property by will and no one to take the property by intestate succession, is presumed abandoned without regard to any activity or inactivity within specified abandonment periods. (c) (1) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, any outstanding check, draft, credit balance, customer's overpayment, or unidentified remittance issued to a business entity or association as part of a commercial transaction in the ordinary course of a holder's business is not presumed abandoned if the holder and such business entity or association have an ongoing business relationship. An ongoing business relationship is deemed to exist if the holder has engaged in a commercial, business, or professional transaction involving the sale, lease, license, or purchase of goods or services with the business entity or association or a predecessor-in-interest of the business entity or association within the dormancy period immediately following the date of the check, draft, credit balance, customer's overpayment, or unidentified remittance giving rise to the unclaimed property interest. A transaction between the holder and a third-party insurer of another is a commercial transaction which constitutes an ongoing business relationship between the holder and the insurer. (2) As used in this subsection (c): (A) "Dormancy period" means the period during which a holder may hold a property interest before it is presumed to be abandoned; and (B) "Predecessor-in-interest" is a person or entity whose interest in a business entity or association was acquired by its successor-in-interest, whether by purchase of the business ownership interest, purchase of business assets, statutory merger, consolidation, or a successive acquisition by whatever means accomplished.

Legislative History

Amended by 2017 Tenn. Acts, ch. 457,s 1, eff. 7/1/2017. Acts 1978, ch. 561, § 4; T.C.A., §§ 64-2904, 66-29-104; Acts 1984, ch. 544, § 2; 1986, ch. 539, § 12; 1993, ch. 195, § 2.