SAFER Act of 2026

This bill prevents financial institutions from prematurely turning over individuals' securities, digital assets, or investment accounts to state governments under unclaimed property laws. For assets owned by a natural person, a financial institution cannot yield custody unless it has confirmed the person's death at least 3 years prior, no estate fiduciary has expressed interest for at least 3 years, and any other owner's death is confirmed. For assets owned by non-natural persons, the institution must have no record of contact with a representative for at least 5 years. For accounts of natural persons who have reached retirement age, the institution must check state or federal death databases every 5 years after 5 years of no contact. Death can be confirmed by a death certificate or other sufficient legal documents. This section preempts any state law that conflicts with its requirements, but does not preempt state communication requirements or prevent owners from seeking remedies for mishandled escheatment. Covered assets include securities, digital assets (cryptographically-secured distributed ledger representations), and investment accounts (including retirement accounts), but exclude employee benefit plans under ERISA. Financial institutions include national banks, transfer agents, and centralized digital asset exchanges. The rules apply to assets held or owned on or after enactment that have not already been escheated.