Estate planning as a Shell account holder

The Shell Fuel Rewards program is the cents-per-gallon fuel-savings loyalty program offered at participating Shell stations in the United States. Members earn Fuel Rewards savings on fuel and partner purchases and hold a Tier Status of Platinum, Gold or Silver, which adds a standing per-gallon discount on every fill-up. The program terms state that it is owned and operated by Equilon Enterprises LLC d/b/a Shell Oil Products US, effective April 28, 2025. The estate-relevant assets are accrued Fuel Rewards savings and the member Tier Status, both held in a single member account. The savings are a discount entitlement rather than money: the terms state they have no cash, monetary or other value and cannot be converted into any currency. The account is non-transferable, closing it forfeits the right to redeem from it, and Shell publishes no process for transferring an account or its rewards on the member's death. Shell is currently consolidating the program into the Shell App.

Shell rewards are forfeited at death under the program's terms. The terms explicitly state that rewards are not the account holder's property and cannot be inherited, transferred by will, or assigned through any estate planning mechanism.

What happens at death

The Shell Fuel Rewards program publishes no deceased-member or bereavement process, and accrued Fuel Rewards savings and Tier Status are forfeited at death rather than inherited. The Terms and Conditions state that the member account is non-transferable and may not be sold, combined or otherwise shared with another person, and that Rewards have no cash, monetary or other value, cannot be converted into any currency, cannot be applied as credit to any payment card statement, and may be canceled at any time. Rewards expire on their own schedule regardless of the account holder's status: unless an offer says otherwise, Rewards issued by Shell expire on the last day of the month following the month in which they were earned, and Shell states separately that a reward's expiration date cannot be extended. If a Reward expires or is cancelled for any reason, the terms say it becomes void without compensation, and if no Rewards are recorded in an account for three years the program may terminate the account and cancel the Rewards. Closing the account does not release value either: the terms state that upon closure, any rights to redeem Rewards from that Account are lost. Because the savings have no cash value, cannot be transferred, and are destroyed rather than paid out on closure, there is nothing of monetary value for an estate to claim, and the only way to capture value is for a survivor who already has lawful access to redeem usable savings at the pump before they expire.

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