Estate planning as a Chase UR account holder

Chase Ultimate Rewards is a bank-proprietary points currency earned on Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, Freedom Flex, and Ink Business cards. Points can be redeemed for cash as a statement credit, for travel and gift cards, and — on the cards that carry the benefit — transferred to airline and hotel loyalty programs. Points do not expire as long as the account is open and in good standing. The Rewards Program Agreement states that points "aren't your property" and "can't be transferred by operation of law, such as by inheritance, in bankruptcy or in connection with a divorce." Chase is nonetheless more estate-friendly than most points programs: the agreement provides that "if we're notified of your death, your points will be automatically redeemed for cash in the form of an account statement credit," so the value of the points reaches the card account the estate settles rather than being forfeited.

When a Chase UR account holder dies, their points can be transferred to heirs through the estate. This requires documentation including a death certificate and, in some cases, court documents.

What happens at death

Chase has one of the most straightforward death provisions among credit card points programs. The Rewards Program Agreement provides: "If we're notified of your death, your points will be automatically redeemed for cash in the form of an account statement credit." The agreement sets the cash rate: "When you use points to redeem for cash, gift cards, and travel, each point is worth $.01 (one cent), which means that 100 points equals $1 in redemption value." The conversion is automatic on notification — the executor does not have to request it, and the estate does not get to choose a different redemption method. The resulting credit lands on the card account: "Account statement credits will reduce your account balance." Where the estate owes a balance, the credit reduces what the estate has to pay. Where the credit exceeds what is owed, it leaves a credit balance on the card account, which the estate should ask Chase Estate Services to refund as part of settling the account; the Rewards Program Agreement does not address the refund of a credit balance, so that is a request to Chase rather than a term of the program. The points themselves are explicitly not inheritable: "Unless required by law, points aren't your property. Points have no value until redeemed. You can't transfer or move points unless expressly provided for in this agreement. Additionally, points can't be transferred by operation of law, such as by inheritance, in bankruptcy or in connection with a divorce." The automatic cash conversion is a practical route for the value, not a legal right to the points. Separately, the agreement forfeits points outright in other circumstances: "you'll immediately lose all your points if your account status changes, or your account is closed, for misuse, fraud," for failure to comply with other Chase agreements, where Chase believes the cardholder "may be unwilling or unable to pay" their debts including filing for bankruptcy, or for fraudulent activity — and "we won't reinstate points you lose unless we've made an error." Notifying Chase of the death is therefore what routes the points to the statement-credit conversion rather than leaving them exposed to a forfeiture trigger.