Topic: Small Estate Affidavits
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An individual who claims to be next of kin for a deceased customer wants to use a small estate affidavit to acquire property from the deceased customer’s safety deposit box. Do we have any responsibility to examine the contents of the safety deposit box to determine whether this really is a small estate?
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No, we do not believe that a bank is required to examine the contents of a safe deposit box before turning them over to the affiant under a small estate affidavit. Illinois law limits the use of a small estate affidavit to estates that do not exceed $100,000 in value. The Illinois small estate affidavit…
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We received a small estate affidavit from one of our customers. What do we need to do to verify that the affidavit is legitimate? Is there a website we can check to verify the affidavit? What verifying documentation do we need to have on file?
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We do not believe that your bank is required to do anything to verify that a small estate affidavit is legitimate, other than confirm that the affidavit is “substantially in compliance” with the form affidavit in the Illinois Probate Act. The Illinois Probate Act requires a financial institution to comply with a small estate affidavit…
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A customer who executed a small estate affidavit to close their mother’s accounts would now like to use the affidavit to open an estate account. Does this customer need to obtain letters of office to open an estate account?
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No, letters of office are not required to open an account for a small estate. The affiant of a small estate affidavit may act as the estate’s executor and open an account for the estate on the basis of the affidavit — provided that neither the affiant nor anyone else has requested or received letters…
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We have a checking account for a customer who recently passed away. We became aware of the death a month after it occurred. There are two beneficiaries on the account: the deceased customer’s adult son and the daughter of his second wife, who is a minor. There is a dispute between the beneficiaries’ families, and we are trying to protect the bank from liability. How do we handle distribution to the minor? Is the minor’s mother required to be appointed as guardian of her property? If we have to wait for court documents, do we have to wait to disburse the other half of the funds to the adult son? Additionally, there are ACH debit transactions that posted after the customer’s death. These transactions are consistent with patterns on the account when the customer was alive, but we are not sure whether the transactions belong to the deceased customer or his adult son, as they both have the same name.
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We believe that if the designated beneficiaries are making conflicting claims as to the relevant payable on death (POD) account, your institution should utilize the protections available under the Illinois Trust and Payable on Death Accounts Act and refuse to distribute the account proceeds until the beneficiaries provide a court order directing distributions from the…
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We rented a safe deposit box to a customer who is now deceased. The customer’s spouse provided us with a death certificate and a small estate affidavit that was used to sell the customer’s vehicle. Is this documentation sufficient for us to provide the spouse with access to the box?
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Yes, we believe that a small estate affidavit is sufficient documentation for the spouse to access the safe deposit box. The Illinois Probate Act requires financial institutions to grant access to safe deposit boxes in accordance with a valid small estate affidavit. The Safety Deposit Box Opening Act requires financial institutions to allow a person…
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A customer with two accounts held in individual ownership recently died. We received a copy of the customer’s will, which was filed with the court in December, and which names an executor and states that the executor is responsible for paying the estate expenses out of the remainder of the customer’s estate. The will also states that the remainder of the estate will pour over to the customer’s revocable trust. The trustee of the trust wants to close the accounts, and we have not had any communication with the executor. Who has the authority to close the accounts?
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It does not appear that you have sufficient information to determine who may close the accounts or to determine whether the accounts are held in the trust or the customer’s estate. As a result, we do not recommend closing the accounts based on the trustee’s request alone. The Illinois Probate Code authorizes pour-over wills in…
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Two deceased customers had been leasing a safe deposit box, and their daughter has requested access to the box. However, she is not a signer for the safe deposit box and does not have a copy of a will or documentation appointing her as executor for her parents’ estates. Is a small estate affidavit sufficient for her to access the safe deposit box and close the box?
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Yes, we believe that a small estate affidavit would be sufficient for the daughter to access the safe deposit box and close the box. The Illinois Probate Act requires financial institutions to grant access to safe deposit boxes in accordance with a valid small estate affidavit. The Safety Deposit Box Opening Act requires financial institutions…
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The son of a deceased customer presented us with a will listing him as the executor of the customer’s estate along with a tax ID number for the estate. However, the will does not appear to have been filed with the court, and the son does not have letters of office appointing him as executor. We declined to open an estate account since we generally require letters of office or a small estate affidavit. The son (who is an existing customer) was very upset by our decision and said he does not want to spend money on an attorney. However, we are unsure what to make of the fact that he was able to obtain a tax ID number for the estate. Wouldn’t an estate have to be opened for a tax ID number to be issued to the estate?
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No, an estate would not necessarily need to be opened with the probate court for a tax ID number to be assigned. The IRS Employer Identification Number (EIN) application provides for persons administering an estate to obtain an EIN and does not require proof that they have opened an estate with a probate court. Although…
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How should we distribute the funds in an account belonging to a deceased customer whose sole payable on death (POD) beneficiary is their thirteen-year-old minor child? The account balance is less than $500. The customer was divorced from the minor child’s other parent. What documentation does the surviving parent need to show guardianship?
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We believe that you may deliver the funds in your deceased customer’s account to the minor beneficiary’s surviving parent if they provide the bank with an affidavit signed by the surviving parent stating that (1) the minor’s estate does not exceed $10,000, (2) no representative has been appointed for the minor’s estate, and (3) the…