What to do when a Alliant account holder dies
Contact Alliant's Special Services (trust accounts) — 5-step process, 6 required documents, and alliant states processing may take up to 48 hours after it receives the documents, and that representatives cannot discuss the account before then. beneficiaries and joint owners are paid once the documents are accepted. accounts needing letters or a small estate affidavit wait on the probate court. alliant states the account must be settled within 180 days of the death notification, and directs survivors to call 800-328-1935 about membership eligibility no later than 6 months after the date of death if the account is to stay active.
Member Care Center
Alliant Credit Union, P.O. Box 66945, Chicago, IL 60666-0945
Special Services (trust accounts)
Alliant Credit Union, Attn: Special Services, P.O. Box 66945, Chicago, IL 60666-0945 (overnight: 11545 W. Touhy Avenue, Chicago, IL 60666)
Member Care Center (intake) and Special Services (account settlement)
Alliant Credit Union, Attn: Special Services, P.O. Box 66945, Chicago, IL 60666-0945 (courier/overnight: 11545 W. Touhy Ave, Chicago, IL 60666-0945)
When a member of Alliant passes away, the Member Care Center (intake) and Special Services (account settlement) handles the transition of accounts to beneficiaries or the estate. Accounts with Payable on Death designations or trust ownership transfer outside of probate, while solely-owned accounts may require Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration from the probate court.
Alliant provides an online portal for initiating death claims, which can simplify the initial notification and document submission process. Claims can also be started by phone or by mailing the required documents.
Death claim process
Here is the step-by-step death claim process at Alliant:
Filing a claim
- Joint account: all sums pass to the surviving owner by right of survivorship, subject to Alliant's statutory lien for the deceased owner's obligations
- Account with beneficiaries (savings, supplemental savings, certificate): Alliant treats it as a revocable trust account and pays the named surviving beneficiaries once the documents are received
- Checking with no joint owner: the funds are transferred to the primary savings account and paid to that account's joint owner or named beneficiaries — checking cannot carry its own beneficiary
- Trust account: the successor trustee provides the trust agreement or a certificate of trust naming the trustee and successor trustee, with the signature and notary seal; if all original trustees are deceased, an EIN from the IRS plus the death certificates
- No joint owner, beneficiary, or trust: the executor or administrator provides Letters Testamentary, Letters of Administration, or a state small estate affidavit
Required Documents
- Photocopy of the claimant's government-issued photo ID (driver's license, state ID, or U.S. passport)
- Certified death certificate with a raised seal (physical copy or a photocopy of the certified copy)
- Beneficiary Funds Dispersal Form for Deceased Member — both pages; Alliant emails or mails it after you notify the Member Care Center
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, or a state small estate affidavit, when there is no joint owner, beneficiary, or trust (a will is not accepted in their place; a power of attorney is not accepted after death)
- Trust agreement or certificate of trust naming the trustee and successor trustee, with signature and notary seal, for a trust-titled account
- IRS-issued EIN and death certificates when all original trustees of a trust account are deceased
What to know at this institution
Institution-specific mechanics from the Account Agreement and Disclosures (sec. 26) and the Member's Guide to Account Settlement: Alliant may keep honoring checks, payments, and transfer orders the member authorized for 10 days after it is notified of the death, unless someone claiming an interest instructs it to stop payment; checks made payable to a deceased member will not be accepted for deposit; automatic transfers and bill pay keep running while the membership and accounts stay open; Alliant attempts to stop Social Security (SSA/SSI) deposits immediately and returns to the government any payment it receives after the date of death, so the estate does not have to repay it (a joint owner's own Social Security deposits continue and must be redirected by contacting SSA); the membership and member number must be closed when the deceased was the primary owner, and a joint owner who is not already a member opens their own membership at open.alliantcreditunion.com; a deceased member's loan may be transferred to a joint owner/coborrower or handled by the estate (pay off or refinance), and third-party payments are accepted on auto loans, credit cards, HELOCs, personal loans, and personal lines of credit; tax documents are released to a joint owner on request, to an executor with Letters and photo ID, or to a sole beneficiary with the death certificate and photo ID (multiple beneficiaries must request through the executor). ARIS investment accounts are held through LPL Financial and are settled with the ARIS consultant, not the Member Care Center.
Prepare your letter of instruction to Alliant
Alliant asks for a letter of instruction alongside its claim form. We prepare a transmittal cover letter and the enclosure checklist Alliant requires.
Build your letter of instructionProcessing timelines at Alliant: Alliant states processing may take up to 48 hours after it receives the documents, and that representatives cannot discuss the account before then. Beneficiaries and joint owners are paid once the documents are accepted. Accounts needing Letters or a small estate affidavit wait on the probate court. Alliant states the account must be settled within 180 days of the death notification, and directs survivors to call 800-328-1935 about membership eligibility no later than 6 months after the date of death if the account is to stay active. Incomplete documentation is the most common cause of delays—submitting all required documents with the initial claim helps avoid additional processing time.
Alliant requires several documents to process a claim, including Photocopy of the claimant's government-issued photo ID (driver's license, state ID, or U.S. passport), Certified death certificate with a raised seal (physical copy or a photocopy of the certified copy), and Beneficiary Funds Dispersal Form for Deceased Member — both pages; Alliant emails or mails it after you notify the Member Care Center, and additional documentation depending on the account type. Certified copies are typically needed—photocopies are generally not accepted for death certificates or court documents.
Frequently asked questions
Settlement starts with a phone call to the Alliant Member Care Center at 800-328-1935 (international 773-462-2000). The representative takes the deceased member's information and your contact details, then Alliant Special Services sends you a secure email listing the documents it needs, along with a Beneficiary Funds Dispersal Form for Deceased Member. Special Services also emails a secure link for uploading the documents; physical copies can instead be mailed to Alliant Credit Union, Attn: Special Services, P.O. Box 66945, Chicago, IL 60666-0945, or couriered to 11545 W. Touhy Ave, Chicago, IL 60666-0945. In most cases Alliant asks for a photocopy of your government-issued photo ID, a certified death certificate with a raised seal, and the completed two-page dispersal form; an executor with no joint owner, beneficiary, or trust on the account also provides Letters Testamentary, Letters of Administration, or a state small estate affidavit. Alliant states it cannot accept a will in place of those documents, cannot accept a power of attorney after the member has died, and that representatives will not discuss the account until the documents are received and processed (up to 48 hours after receipt).
Alliant's Account Agreement and Disclosures states that beneficiaries may not be added to a checking account, and the Beneficiary Add/Delete Form (A333) lists only Savings, Supplemental Savings, and Certificate accounts. Section 26 of the agreement then supplies the answer: if you do not select a joint owner on your checking account, at your death the checking funds are transferred to your primary savings account and paid to the joint owner of that savings account, if any, or to the beneficiaries named on it. So the beneficiary designation on your Alliant savings account effectively governs your checking balance too. If neither a joint owner nor a beneficiary is on the savings account, the money is reachable only through Letters Testamentary, Letters of Administration, or a small estate affidavit.
Under section 26 of the Account Agreement, Alliant may continue honoring transfers, withdrawals, deposits, and other transactions until it is notified of the death. Once notified, it may still pay checks or honor other payments and transfer orders the member authorized for 10 days after that date, unless someone claiming an interest in the account instructs it to stop payment. Checks made payable to the deceased member will not be accepted for deposit. Automatic transfers and bill pay keep running while the membership and accounts remain open. Social Security is handled differently: Alliant states it attempts to stop SSA/SSI deposits immediately and returns to the government any payment received after the date of death, so the estate does not have to repay it. Alliant also states the account must be settled within 180 days of the death notification.
Alliant's Member Care Center (intake) and Special Services (account settlement) can be reached by phone at 800-328-1935 for questions throughout the claims process.
If the deceased held multiple Alliant accounts, each may require a separate claim or have different documentation requirements. The Member Care Center (intake) and Special Services (account settlement) can confirm which accounts require individual attention and which can be processed together.
Sources
Data sourced from Alliant primary sources (15 pages reviewed). How we research.
Member Care Center
Alliant Credit Union, P.O. Box 66945, Chicago, IL 60666-0945
Special Services (trust accounts)
Alliant Credit Union, Attn: Special Services, P.O. Box 66945, Chicago, IL 60666-0945 (overnight: 11545 W. Touhy Avenue, Chicago, IL 60666)
Member Care Center (intake) and Special Services (account settlement)
Alliant Credit Union, Attn: Special Services, P.O. Box 66945, Chicago, IL 60666-0945 (courier/overnight: 11545 W. Touhy Ave, Chicago, IL 60666-0945)
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