The laws in many states protect a bank that continues to honor items in innocent ignorance of a customer's death. Once the bank learns of the death, however, the bank has to act to stop doing so (there may be a 10-day post mortem window during which checks on the decedent's account can be honored, but that ONLY applies to checks).
Yes, the estate can file a claim that the transactions were not authorized. But I believe the bank is protected by a combination of paragraph 1005.2(m)(1) and state law (if there is one) that provides cover for a bank for actions taken before it learns of the depositor's death.
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John S. Burnett
BankersOnline.com
Fighting for Compliance since 1976
Bankers' Threads User #8