Estate planning as a Ulta account holder

Ulta Beauty Rewards (historically branded Ultamate Rewards) is the free loyalty program run by Ulta Beauty, Inc. Members earn one point per dollar of qualifying spend and redeem points for discounts on future purchases, with Platinum and Diamond tiers earning at higher rates. The program terms state that point and rewards balances are not the member's property and remain the sole property of Ulta until redeemed, that they carry no cash value, and that they cannot be divided as part of a death. Ulta gift cards, which do not expire, are a separate bearer instrument and are where residual Ulta value usually sits.

Under Ulta's terms, points are not property of the account holder and are forfeited when the account closes at death. No estate planning document—will, trust, or otherwise—can override this forfeiture.

What happens at death

Ulta Beauty Rewards points are forfeited at death. Section IV.2 of the program terms states that "Point and/or rewards balances are not your property, and you have no property rights or other legal interest in the points and/or rewards. All points and/or rewards remain the sole property of Ulta until redeemed," and immediately adds that "Your points and/or rewards balance or any part of it is not transferable, cannot be brokered, bartered, or sold, and cannot be divided as part of a settlement, legal proceeding or death, and cannot be combined with points and/or rewards of any other participant in the Program." Section 10 (Member Cancellation) provides that upon cancellation any unused points accrued in the member's account are forfeited and cannot be redeemed, and the terms separately let Ulta cancel an account for lack of purchase activity, at which point the accumulated balance expires. There is no beneficiary designation and no estate-claim path in the terms. Ulta does publish one escheat provision: "If required under applicable state unclaimed property laws due to non-redemption of your points and/or rewards balance over time, we may transfer, report, or convey your points and/or rewards balance to a state agency." That is a transfer to a state, not to the estate, and Ulta adds that it takes no responsibility for balances lost that way.

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