Account Status

• Banks are not allowed to consider an account dormant or inactive unless there has been an extended period of time with no activity in the account. This only includes activity generated by the account holder and not by the bank. If this status continues for five years and the bank has had no contact with the account holder, the bank is required by state law to diligently attempt to contact with the account holder. If these attempts fail, the bank then will classify the account as unclaimed property and turn the funds over to the state.
  
  

Unclaimed Funds

• Per South Carolina law, the funds from unclaimed accounts must be turned over to the state for custodial safekeeping. In South Carolina, this is administered by the state treasurer's office. These funds are not owned by the state; they are just in the state's custodial care. A rightful owner or heir retains an indefinite right to claim and acquire these funds. The state's unclaimed property law went into effect in 1971, but the treasurer's office is holding account funds from the 1940s.
  
  

Recovering Unclaimed Funds

• The South Carolina state treasurer's office maintains a special section for unclaimed funds called the Palmetto Payback Program. They are mandated to take an active approach in reuniting these unclaimed funds with their legal owners or their heirs. They have a website that allows a broad-based search for unclaimed funds and online help and mechanisms to make a claim. There are no fees charged for the search, claim or any other activity administered by this program. Claimants will need to prove their identity and their ownership of the unclaimed funds.
  
  

Special Provisions

• The bank is not allowed to classify an account as unclaimed unless they have had no contact with the account holder for five years. State law limits any fees charged by the bank for inactive accounts to one dollar a month, unless a contract specifies otherwise. Any interest due on the account must be credited to the account while it is inactive. Such fees and interest cease upon the account becoming unclaimed.