Yes, we believe that your bank may report and remit the safe deposit box property to the Treasurer’s office under the Illinois Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (Illinois RUUPA).

As a general rule, safe deposit box property is considered unclaimed five years after the expiration of the lease or rental period for the box. But if the lessor dies, a different abandonment period applies; the property is considered unclaimed just two years after the last indication of interest in the property. In this case, it’s likely that two years have passed since your customer last indicated an interest in the safe deposit box property. Consequently, we would treat this property as unclaimed property and report and remit it.

Ordinarily, we would recommend contacting the estate representative first to inform them of the safe deposit box’s existence. The estate representative is an “owner” of the safe deposit box property, since that individual holds a legal interest in the customer’s estate. Consequently, the estate representative could indicate an interest in the safe deposit box property, and this would avoid the need to drill the box.

However, you have indicated that your bank does not have contact information for the estate representative, so any attempt to contact the estate representative likely would be fruitless. During the visit to your bank last year, the estate representative did not take any action on the safe deposit box property and apparently was unaware of its existence. Consequently, we would not treat the estate representative’s visit to the bank last year as an indication of interest in the safe deposit box property.

Note that the Illinois RUUPA permits your bank to report and remit any property to the Illinois Treasurer, even if the full period of abandonment has not yet passed. When making such an early report, your bank must: (1) provide evidence that it has sent the required notice to the property owner, (2) include the required report regarding the property, and (3) request and obtain the Treasurer’s consent (this consent is deemed to have been provided once thirty days have elapsed after the Treasurer receives the request).

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Illinois RUUPA, 765 ILCS 1026/15-205 (“Tangible property held in a safe-deposit box are presumed abandoned if the property remains unclaimed by the apparent owner 5 years after the expiration of the lease or rental period for the box.”)

• Illinois RUUPA, 765 ILCS 1026/15-201 (“Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section 15-201, and subject to Section 15-210, a deceased owner cannot indicate interest in his or her property. If the owner is deceased and the abandonment period for the owner’s property specified in this Section 15-201 is greater than 2 years, then the property, other than an amount owed by an insurance company on a life or endowment insurance policy or an annuity contract that has matured or terminated, shall instead be presumed abandoned 2 years from the date of the owner’s last indication of interest in the property.”)

• Illinois RUUPA, 765 ILCS 1026/15-102(21) (“‘Owner’, unless the context otherwise requires, means a person that has a legal, beneficial, or equitable interest in property subject to this Act or the person’s legal representative when acting on behalf of the owner. . . .”)

• Illinois RUUPA, 765 ILCS 1026/15-210(b) (“Under this Act, an indication of an apparent owner’s interest in property includes: (1) a record communicated by the apparent owner to the holder or agent of the holder concerning the property or the account in which the property is held