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#2251882 - 04/06/21 05:33 PM Deceased Customers
Grandkids R Great Offline
Member
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 50
Curious what others do for Deceased Account Holders.

Do you allow the deceased joint owner to remain on the account until the living joint owner changes it or do you have a time limit of how long the deceased person can stay on the account?

Does the bank remove the dead person if the joint owner does nothing?

If it is a single ownership account and no one comes forward as executor or family member do you just let it be escheated and just lock the account and wait?

If you do remove the deceased person do you have something in you deposit disclosure so the customer knows when the account is opened?

Thanks in advance for answering my many questions.

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#2251899 - 04/06/21 07:37 PM Re: Deceased Customers Grandkids R Great
rlcarey Online
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rlcarey
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 83,227
Galveston, TX
For the first two, we used to make the change when officially notified of the death. There was no option to keep a deceased person on the account. We did not want a teller accepting checks payable to the deceased person and by passing any estate process.

On the third question, you have no other option.

I have no idea what your fourth question is. When what account is opened?
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The opinions expressed here should not be construed to be those of my employer: PPDocs.com

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#2252216 - 04/12/21 05:11 PM Re: Deceased Customers Grandkids R Great
Grandkids R Great Offline
Member
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 50
I did not word question #4 very well.
When an account is opened the customer is given a despoit account disclosure that explains all the terms and conditions of the accounts.
Do you disclosue in that account disclosure that upon the death of a customer on a joint account the ownership will change and the decedent will be removed?
Hope this makes better sense!

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#2252234 - 04/12/21 06:22 PM Re: Deceased Customers Grandkids R Great
John Burnett Offline
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John Burnett
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,086
Cape Cod
The whole JTWROS thing is a creature of the laws of the several states. Many of the states laws presume JTWROS ownership (or Tenancy by the Entirety (T by E) if the co-owners are a married couple, in some states), if no other option (such as tenancy in common) is chosen. A few states presume tenancy in common when no other option is chosen. Some states require that an affirmative selection of ownership type be made.

With JTWROS or T by E, the law typically dictates that on the death of an account owner, the ownership of such an account passes by law and contract to the surviving account owner(s), and not to the estate of the deceased owner. There's no need for that to be spelled out in the deposit contract.
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John S. Burnett
BankersOnline.com
Fighting for Compliance since 1976
Bankers' Threads User #8

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#2252305 - 04/13/21 05:07 PM Re: Deceased Customers Grandkids R Great
Grandkids R Great Offline
Member
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 50
Thanks John
That is a mouth full!

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