What to do when a Bankers Trust (Iowa) account holder dies

On a joint account with survivorship, the balance belongs to the owners still living, who hold it together with survivorship rather than as tenants in common.¹

Where a joint CD was pledged with the bank's consent, the pledge is paid first; the surviving owner takes what is left.²

On a revocable trust or pay-on-death account, the beneficiaries can withdraw only once every owner who opened it has died, and only if they are alive then. Two or more surviving beneficiaries share it equally, with no survivorship between them.¹

An authorized signer's authority on an individual account ends when the owner dies, though the bank may keep honoring the signer's transactions until it has written notice or knows of the death.¹

A trustee under a written trust agreement, or an executor, administrator or conservator serving under a court order, may open and run an account in that role. Holding the account does not make the bank a trustee, and it does not police the trust or the letters.¹

Bankers Trust's CD agreement says the early withdrawal penalty can be waived when an owner dies, where the law allows or requires it, and that a court-appointed representative with the proper papers may withdraw.²

When the bank is told an HSA owner has died, an attorney-in-fact's authority ends and the funds go to the named beneficiaries. With no beneficiary, or one who died first, the balance goes to the owner's estate.³

Trust and estate administration, including estates and trusts where Bankers Trust serves as executor or trustee⁴

The account terms ask that Bankers Trust be told promptly when anyone allowed to withdraw from the account dies.¹

Checks written on or before the day of death may still be paid or certified for up to ten days afterward, unless someone claiming an interest in the account orders a stop.¹

If the bank has to return a federal benefit payment deposited into the account, it may take that amount from this or any other account the customer holds there, without notice.¹

When survivors or beneficiaries make competing claims to an account, Bankers Trust may hold the funds until a court decides or until it is satisfied the dispute is settled.¹

The bank may take money in an account, without notice and where the law allows, to pay a debt an owner owes it that is due. It does not do so on an IRA, for a credit card debt, or where the debtor can withdraw only as someone else's representative.¹

The account terms are made subject to federal law and Iowa law.¹

An account with no owner deposits, withdrawals or contact for 24 months is dormant and is charged $8.00 a month. Funds left untouched longer may have to be turned over to the state as unclaimed property, and the claim is then made to that state.^{1, 5}

Account balancing and research costs $15.00 per half hour, an additional statement $8.00, photocopies and scans $1.00 a page, and a garnishment or levy $100.00.⁵