Topic: Death of a Customer
-
We have a Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) account for a minor who is seventeen years of age. The custodian was the minor’s mother, who just passed away. Does the father automatically become the successor custodian?
—
by
No, the father does not automatically become the successor custodian. Instead, there are a number of rules in the UTMA that govern succession after a custodian dies. If there has been a designated successor custodian appointed in an “instrument of designation” by the original custodian or the original transferor of the UTMA account funds, you…
-
Do you know of any state or federal law that would prohibit a bank from charging a dormancy fee on a deceased customer’s account after one year of inactivity?
—
by
No, we are not aware of any state or federal law prohibiting you from charging a deceased customer’s account a dormancy fee, provided that the customer agreed to the fee when opening the account. However, we recommend communicating with a representative of the decedent’s estate within a reasonable time to determine their intentions with the…
-
The sole owner of a safety deposit box has passed away. An attorney wants to view the will, which he says is inside the box. Do we need official papers from the attorney to view the will? We were presented with the death certificate.
—
by
Before opening the lessee’s safety deposit box, you should obtain a safety deposit box opening affidavit from the attorney, who must satisfy certain requirements in the Illinois Safety Deposit Box Opening Act (the Act). The Act requires banks to open a safety deposit box and remove its contents when presented with letters of office, another…
-
What should we do when we receive a returned statement for an individually or jointly held deposit account marked “deceased” by the post office?
—
by
For both jointly and individually held deposit accounts, we recommend discontinuing the mailing of account statements to the address that was marked “deceased.” Individual Accounts Once you have received notice of the customer’s death, you should hold onto any subsequent account statements until an an executor, administrator, trustee or other appropriate representative of the deceased…
-
One of our customers died, leaving a savings account and a CD listing her daughter as the beneficiary. She also had an IRA listing another daughter as the beneficiary. All of the beneficiary designations use the daughters’ maiden names, but both daughters have since married. Now, their driver’s licenses show their married names, but their social security cards show their maiden names. If they present marriage certificates showing both their maiden names and married names, can we distribute the accounts to them?
—
by
Yes, you may distribute the accounts once the beneficiaries provide their marriage certificates, although your institution has the right to withhold distributions until you are satisfied that they have provided adequate identification. We believe it is up to your institution to determine what constitutes adequate identification. Other than what is required by your account agreements,…
-
A deceased customer’s checking account has been dormant for three years. We have mailed several notices without receiving a response. Can we report the account as unclaimed property and remit it to the state before we are required to? Are there any consequences for early reporting?
—
by
Yes, you may report and remit the account before the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act deadline. The Act permits property holders to “report and deliver it prior to the date required for such reporting” if they believe it “will be reportable in the future as unclaimed property.” We are not aware of any consequences…
-
We have seen other institutions’ small estate affidavit forms that include additional text from the law itself (755 ILCS 5/25-1). Should we include that information on our small estate affidavit form?
—
by
No, you are not required to include any additional language from the law, other than subsection (b), which contains the statutory small estate affidavit form. The Illinois Probate Act requires a financial institution to comply with a small estate affidavit that is “substantially in compliance” with the statutory form, and it protects financial institutions from…
-
A deposit account customer died, and an individual in Lithuania appears to be representing the customer’s estate. Assuming the bank receives proper documentation to close the account, how can we send the account funds to that individual? We have a policy of not sending any international wires, but we are a member of the Federal Reserve’s Fedwire funds service.
—
by
Once you have received proper documentation of the individual’s authority over the customer’s estate and the account funds, your institution should be able to send the account funds via Fedwire — we link to detailed instructions for international wires through Fedwire below. Since this situation is relatively rare for your institution, we do not see…
-
A deposit account customer died while in another country a few months ago. A relative of the customer sent us the foreign death certificate and requested information about how to close the account. What should we require before closing the account and transferring the funds?
—
by
Because this situation may involve litigation risks, among other risks, we do not recommend paying the account to the accountholder’s relative without additional documentation. We are aware of at least one Illinois court holding that when a payment is made to a person other than the depositor, the bank acts at its peril and would…