What to do when a America First account holder dies
Contact America First's America First Trust Advisors (Members Trust Company) — 7-step process, 6 required documents, and pod and joint-account payouts typically move once the certified death certificate and claimant id are accepted. note the section 23 ten-day window during which payments authorized by the deceased member may still be honored after notice. accounts that require letters testamentary or letters of administration move on the probate court timeline.
America First Credit Union, P.O. Box 9199, Ogden, UT 84409
America First Trust Advisors (Members Trust Company)
Trust Services -- Deceased Member Account Counseling / Estate Settlement
America First Credit Union, P.O. Box 9199, Ogden, UT 84409
The Trust Services -- Deceased Member Account Counseling / Estate Settlement at America First coordinates account transitions after a member's death. How each account is handled depends on its setup: POD and trust accounts transfer automatically, while solely-owned accounts typically require court authorization through Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
America First offers an online claims portal that makes the initial filing process more straightforward. Survivors can also initiate claims by phone or by mailing documentation directly.
Death claim process
The death claim process at America First works as follows:
Filing a claim
- Call 1-800-999-3961 (Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-7 p.m. MT; Saturday 8 a.m.-6 p.m. MT) or visit any branch
- America First Trust Advisors provide deceased member account counseling and estate settlement support (1-801-827-7379)
- POD deposit account (AFCU Form #40): certified death certificate plus government-issued photo ID for the surviving POD beneficiary. Multiple PODs take the funds jointly with rights of survivorship
- Certificate account: the certificate carries its own beneficiary designation; if none was made, the POD on the share savings account governs the certificate
- Joint account: the surviving joint owner keeps the account by right of survivorship, and any POD only takes effect on the death of the LAST joint owner
- IRA: the AFCU Form #424 beneficiary controls -- the POD form never applied to it
- HSA / Coverdell: separate beneficiary designations govern, not the POD form
- Trust-titled account: successor trustee presents the death certificate, the trust document or Certification of Trust showing successor-trustee authority, and photo ID
- No POD, no joint owner, no trust: the personal representative presents Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration
Required Documents
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Government-issued photo ID for the claimant
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (no POD, no joint owner, no trust title)
- Trust document or Certification of Trust showing successor-trustee authority (trust-titled accounts)
- Utah small estate affidavit under Utah Code 75-3-1201 (estate subject to administration of $100,000 or less, 30 days after death; personal property only)
- Indemnification agreement, if the credit union requires one under Membership Agreement Section 23
What to know at this institution
Membership Agreement Section 23 also has the member irrevocably waive the right to make a testamentary disposition of any America First account -- the account is payable on death according to the account designations (POD, joint, trust title, IRA/HSA beneficiary), not according to the will. That makes the beneficiary paperwork on file, not the will, the operative document for these accounts, so an executor should pull each registration before assuming an account is part of the probate estate. Call 1-800-999-3961 or a Trust Advisor at 1-801-827-7379 to begin.
Prepare your letter of instruction to America First
America First accepts a claimant-drafted letter of instruction. We draft it for you — addressed to America First's verified claims department, with the documents it requires enclosed.
Build your letter of instructionProcessing timelines at America First: POD and joint-account payouts typically move once the certified death certificate and claimant ID are accepted. Note the Section 23 ten-day window during which payments authorized by the deceased member may still be honored after notice. Accounts that require Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration move on the probate court timeline. Incomplete documentation is the most common cause of delays—submitting all required documents with the initial claim helps avoid additional processing time.
America First requires several documents to process a claim, including Certified copy of the death certificate, Government-issued photo ID for the claimant, and Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (no POD, no joint owner, no trust title), 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
It depends on the account. Deposit accounts use AFCU Form #40, the Payable on Death (POD) Designation. If the beneficiary is a trust, the POD form itself directs you to AFCU Form #211 instead. IRA beneficiaries must be designated on AFCU Form #424 -- Form #40 states on its face that it does not designate PODs for IRAs. HSA, Coverdell Education Savings, and certificate accounts are each governed by their own separate beneficiary designation under Section 5 of the Membership Agreement.
No. Section 23 of the Membership Agreement has each member irrevocably waive the right to make a testamentary disposition of any America First account. On death, the account is payable according to the account designations on file -- the POD form, joint ownership with rights of survivorship, trust titling, or the IRA/HSA beneficiary designation. Keeping those designations current is what controls the account, not the language in a will.
Section 23 of the Membership Agreement allows the credit union to keep honoring transactions on the account until it learns of the death, and then, for ten (10) days after it learns of the death, it may still pay checks or honor other payments or transfer orders the member authorized -- unless someone claiming an interest in the account instructs it to stop payment. Notify America First at 1-800-999-3961 or at a branch as soon as possible, and give written stop instructions if you need those items halted. The credit union may also require the claimant to indemnify it for losses resulting from honoring the claim.
Yes. Through America First Trust Advisors, you can name Members Trust Company, with offices at America First, as successor trustee or as executor. The trust services team also handles trust administration, estate settlement, and deceased member account counseling. Call 1-801-827-7379. For a simpler estate, members receive 20 percent off any Trust & Will online estate plan plus free shipping on the first document set.
America First's Trust Services -- Deceased Member Account Counseling / Estate Settlement can be reached by phone at 1-800-999-3961 for questions throughout the claims process.
Multiple America First accounts may mean multiple claims. Some account types can be processed together, but others require their own documentation. Check with the Trust Services -- Deceased Member Account Counseling / Estate Settlement to confirm what applies.
Sources
Data sourced from America First primary sources (15 pages reviewed). How we research.
America First Credit Union, P.O. Box 9199, Ogden, UT 84409
America First Trust Advisors (Members Trust Company)
Trust Services -- Deceased Member Account Counseling / Estate Settlement
America First Credit Union, P.O. Box 9199, Ogden, UT 84409
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