SAFER Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Representative Liccardo
Introduced
Summary
Prevents states from seizing investments held by banks and exchanges unless strict death or contact checks are met. This bill would stop state unclaimed property rules from taking securities, digital assets, or investment accounts held in custody unless specific death- and contact-based conditions are satisfied.
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- Families and retirees: Protects individual and retirement accounts by barring escheatment unless a custodian confirms a person's death at least 3 years earlier or runs a death-database check for retirement-age customers every 5 years.
- Estate representatives: A fiduciary must show interest within 3 years to block a custody yield. If no fiduciary expresses interest for 3 years the absence is part of the test that allows escheatment.
- Financial institutions: Custodians would need to compare inactive retirement-age records with State or Federal death databases at the end of a 5-year period from last contact and every 5 years after.
- States and unclaimed-property programs: Limits state remittance or transfer of covered assets that conflict with these federal conditions while preserving state communication channels and owner remedies.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Protects investors from state asset takeovers
If enacted, the bill would bar financial firms from turning over covered assets to State unclaimed property programs except in narrow cases. For individual-owned assets, custody could be yielded only where the firm has death confirmation at least 3 years earlier and no estate fiduciary has shown interest for 3 years. If another person co-owns the asset, the firm would need confirmation that that co-owner is also deceased. For businesses and other non-natural owners, custody could be yielded only after no contact with a representative for at least 5 years. The bill would preempt conflicting State escheat rules but would not stop State communication rules or owners from seeking remedies for improper escheatment.
Periodic death checks for retirees
If enacted, the bill would require custodial financial institutions to compare records with State or Federal death databases for covered assets held by people who have reached retirement age. The check would occur at the end of the 5-year period after the last contact and every five years after that. The bill would treat "retirement age" as the age in section 401(a)(9)(C)(v) of the tax code. Firms could confirm death with a death certificate or other legal documents they consider sufficient.
Defines covered digital assets and custodians
If enacted, the bill would define what counts as a covered asset and who is a financial institution for these rules. "Covered asset" would include securities, digital assets recorded on cryptographically-secured distributed ledgers, and investment accounts (including some retirement accounts). The bill would exclude employee benefit plans covered by ERISA title I. "Financial institution" would follow 31 U.S.C. 5312 and explicitly list national banks, transfer agents, and centralized digital asset exchanges.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Liccardo
CA • D
Cosponsors
Rep. Lawler, Michael [R-NY-17]
NY • R
Sponsored 4/16/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov