We were just notified that the State of South Carolina "no longer accepts safe deposit contents" for escheatment. This is the first time we have run across a state rejecting escheated property. What are other banks doing with unclaimed safe deposit contents which the state will not accept for escheatment?

South Carolina does not want the contents of the safe deposit boxes, and they don't require the bank to sell them. However, the bank may sell them and if that occurs, the proceeds from the sale are escheatable 5 years after the lease on the box expires.

Unfortunately, the state's statute doesn't cover this topic very well, so this falls more under an administrative rule.