Okay, I looked....and....looked....and looked, but I can't find this. I'm thinking that $2,500 is the the amount that we can allow a family member to withdraw for final expenses. Am I correct or am I just making this up?

Please help!!

Pretty please?

Pup, this is the closest thing I could find. I'll look some more . .

Oklahoma Statutes Citationized
Title 6. Banks and Trust Companies
Chapter 1 - Oklahoma Banking Code
Article Article IX - Deposits and Collections - Notary Public - Protests
Section 906 - Transfer of Funds to Known Heirs of Deceased - Valid and Sufficient Release and Discharge - Penalty for False Affidavits
A. 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.

Thanks, Ken. We found that Section in our search, but couldn't find anything else to substantiate our thought that $2,500 could be released to the family prior to reporting to OTC (left that part out, sorry). I appreciate your efforts.

Fraud, check with OTC. The reporting amount changed from $2500 to $5000 that does not need to be reported to OTC.

There's nothing in the Oklahoma statutes that specifically authorizes any amount to be withdrawn by a family member of a decedent for final expenses. However, the funeral bill and expenses of last illness are the first two creditors in order of priority in a probate, so many institutions will take a chance and debit a decedent's account and make a cashier's check payable to the funeral home, upon the request of the family.

As for other disbursements, there are two relevant statutes. The one is the one cited above (Section 906 of the State Banking Code. I wrote it while at OBA becaue I hated getting calls from bankers who said, "Our customer, Joe, has died and doesn't have enough assets to probate. How can we turn his funds over to his family without them having to hire a lawyer and file probate?" So, Section 906 can come in handy, but only if the total amount in the decedent's name at your bank is under $5,000, he didn't leave a will, and all his heirs submit a properly executed affidavit of heirship.

The other pertinent statutes are 68 O.S. Sections 811 and 812. (see OSCN to get the links.) They govern reporting to the Tax Commission. That is much more complex, but basically:

If the account was in joint tenancy with only a spouse, you don't have to report, you don't have to freeze. The surviving spouse joint tenant can remove it all right away. (Same with a situation where the spouse was the only POD beneficiary or beneficiary of the living trust that owned the account.)

Other than that, if there's $2500 or less in the account, regardless of how it's owned, you don't have to report, BUT there's nothing that allows you to just "give" the money to family members (unless you're doing what I described above.)

If it's over $2500 and it is in an individual account with no POD or it's joint with someone other than solely the spouse, etc. you have to report to the Tax Commission.

Mary Beth,

"Have I told...you lately...that I love you?"

I'll take that info to work with me on Monday! Hope you (and everyone) have (has) a good weekend!

Jeremy

I have a customer who died, no will, under $5,000.00 in account, no husband & no children. I know for sure there is a brother and a father as they have been in. OTC has released funds, can those two have the money?

anyone?

As noted above by Mary Beth above, you should look at Section 906 of the Oklahoma Banking Code, which provides as follows:

A. 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.

B. Receipt by the bank of the affidavit described in subsection A shall be a valid and sufficient release and discharge to the bank for any transfer of deposits made pursuant thereto and shall set to discharge the bank from liability as to any other party, including any heir, legatee, devisee, creditor or other person having rights or claims to funds or property of the decedent, and include a discharge of the bank from liability for any estate, inheritance or other taxes which may be due the state from the estate or as a result of the transfer.

C. Any person who knowingly submits and signs a false affidavit as provided in this section shall be fined not more than Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00) or imprisoned for not more than six (6) months, or both. Restitution of the amount fraudulently attained shall be made to the rightful beneficiary by the guilty person.


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Looks like your situation fits within the statute permitting distribution of the funds upon getting the required affidavit.

thanks. I had a form from Mary Beth on an earlier account. I just released the funds.

I am looking at an article from 2001 Legal Briefs that says" The amended statute allows $10,000 in the aggregate to be released to one or more lineal descendants who are either joint tenants or P.O.D. beneficiaries, without notifying the Tax Commission: and ten days after notifying the Tax Commission the greater of the $175,000 in the aggregate(including any pre-notification distribution of up to $10,000) or 90% of the deposits can be released to lineal descendants who are either surviving joint tenants or P.O.D. beneficiaries.

I have been told this changed from "lineal descendents" to "heirs" as of Jan. 07. Is this true?

You raise a very good question. In 2006, the Legislature passed HB 1172 which made some major changes in the Estate Tax Code (e.g., to eliminate the different estate tax rates upon the net estate passing to lineal descenants and the net estate passing to non-lineal descendants, and to extend the estate tax exemption amount to non-lineal descendants). This change became effective January 1, 2007.

However, the legislature did not change Section 812 of the Estate Tax Code which addresses release of funds from accounts. The conservative position (for the bank's protection) would be to continue to follow the rules of Section 812 and recognize the distinctions between lineal and non-lineal descendants when releasing funds.

I talked with Charles Cheatham at the OBA today about this issue. He said an attempt would be made to get legislation passed that would amend Section 812, but he was not sure this could get done in 07.

is there any way we can petition to get this amount raised from $5000? I believe in Kansas they have now raised this to $20,000 in 2000. And, . . . who do we contact in order to try?

You might seek help from the Oklahoma Bankers Association.