Affidavit of Heirship Disbursement Limits
by Sam Ott and Mary Beth Guard, BOL Gurus BIO AND CONTACT INFO
QUESTION: The owner of an individual checking account has died. The balance in the account is 13,000. What is the limit that can be disbursed under Oklahoma law with an affidavit of heirship? I understand that the amount has increased in recent years. Can funeral expenses be deducted from the balance to make it meet the requirements?
ANSWER by Sam Ott: BIO AND CONTACT INFO
Under Oklahoma law (68 OK Stat 812) a financial institution who receives actual notice of the death of a customer must notify the Oklahoma Tax Commission prior to the transfer of any assets to a third party or retain sufficient funds to pay any taxes that might be imposed on the transfer. There are exceptions to the general rule which allow the distribution of certain amounts held in joint accounts or those with payable-on-death beneficiaries depending on the relationship of the receiver to the deceased.
If the funds are held by the deceased and any other person not the spouse or a lineal descendant as joint tenants or if the other party is listed as POD, not more than the greater of $5,000.00 or 90% of the deposit amount can be released.
If the funds are held by the deceased and one or more lineal descendants as joint tenants, or if the lineal descendants are listed as PODs, no more than $10,000.00 per person and a combined total of not more than $175,000.00 or 90% of the deposit amount can be released.
If the funds are held jointly by the deceased and the surviving spouse or the with the surviving spouse as POD, there is no limit to the amount of funds that can be released.
The Oklahoma Tax Commission has permitted the payment of funeral expenses, but there is no statutory provision which expressly allows such a practice.
"When a deposit has been made in a bank in the name of a sole individual without designation of a payable-on-death beneficiary, upon the death of the sole owner of the account if the amount of the aggregate deposits held in single ownership accounts in the name of the deceased individual is Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000) or less, the bank may transfer the funds to the known heirs of the deceased upon receipt of an affidavit sworn to by the known heirs of the deceased which establishes jurisdiction and relationship and states that the owner of the account left no will. The affidavit shall be sworn to and signed by the known heirs of the deceased and the same shall swear that the facts set forth in the affidavit establishing jurisdiction, heirship and intestacy are true and correct."
There is nothing that would appear to allow funeral expenses to be deducted from the balance in order to make it fall below the maximum allowed by this statute.
This is the perfect type of question to post on the State-specific forum on Bankers' Threads!
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