Rhode Island General Laws 33-21.1-4. Travelers checks and money orders
(a) Subject to subsection (d), any sum payable on a travelers check that has been outstanding for more than fifteen (15) years after its issuance is presumed abandoned unless the owner, within fifteen (15) years, has communicated in writing with the issuer concerning it or otherwise indicated an interest as evidenced by a memorandum or other record on file prepared by an employee of the issuer.
Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 33-21.1-4
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- 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, wherever organized or domiciled, who is:
(i) In possession of property belonging to another,
(ii) A trustee, or
(iii) Indebted to another on an obligation. See Rhode Island General Laws 33-21.1-1
- in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
- Owner: means a depositor in the case of a deposit, a beneficiary in the case of a trust other than a deposit in trust, a creditor, claimant, or payee in the case of other intangible property, or a person having a legal or equitable interest in property subject to this chapter or his or her legal representative. See Rhode Island General Laws 33-21.1-1
- State: means any state, district, commonwealth, territory, insular possession, or any other area subject to the legislative authority of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 33-21.1-1
(b) Subject to subsection (d), any sum payable on a money order or similar written instrument, other than a third party bank check, that has been outstanding for more than five (5) years after its issuance is presumed abandoned unless the owner, within five (5) years, has communicated in writing with the issuer concerning it or otherwise indicated an interest as evidenced by a memorandum or other record on file prepared by an employee of the issuer.
(c) A holder may not deduct from the amount of a travelers check or money order any charge imposed by reason of the failure to present the instrument for payment unless there is a valid and enforceable written contract between the issuer and the owner of the instrument pursuant to which the issuer may impose a charge and the issuer regularly imposes these charges and does not regularly reverse or otherwise cancel them.
(d) No sum payable on a travelers check, money order, or similar written instrument, other than a third party bank check, described in subsections (a) and (b) may be subjected to the custody of this state as unclaimed property unless:
(1) The records of the issuer show that the travelers check, money order, or similar written instrument was purchased in this state;
(2) The issuer has its principal place of business in this state and the records of the issuer do not show the state in which the travelers check, money order, or similar written instrument was purchased; or
(3) The issuer has its principal place of business in this state, the records of the issuer show the state in which the travelers check, money order, or similar written instrument was purchased and the laws of the state of purchase do not provide for the escheat or custodial taking of the property or its escheat or unclaimed property law is not applicable to the property.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, subsection (d) applies to sums payable on travelers checks, money orders, and similar written instruments presumed abandoned on or after February 1, 1971, except to the extent that those sums have been paid over to a state prior to January 1, 1981.
History of Section.
P.L. 1986, ch. 500, § 3.