What to do when a Beacon Bank account holder dies
Contact Beacon Bank's Beacon Bank Trust & Estate Services (trust administration and estate settlement) — 6-step process, 6 required documents, and pod, joint-survivor, and voluntary administration releases are typically same-visit once documents are presented; full-probate estate releases wait on letters from the probate and family court. an inherited ira transferred to another custodian incurs the $50.00 ira transfer fee, which the fee schedule states includes account closure.
Brand change
Brookline Bank is now Beacon Bank & Trust. Brookline Bancorp and Berkshire Hills Bancorp completed a merger of equals on September 1, 2025 to form Beacon Financial Corporation (NYSE: BBT); the next day, September 2, 2025, the FDIC recorded the legal name change of the Brookline Bank charter (CERT 17798) to Beacon Bank and Trust and consolidated Berkshire Bank, Bank Rhode Island, and PCSB Bank into it. Branch signage and account documents converted to the single Beacon Bank brand on February 9, 2026. Because the Brookline charter is the surviving one, legacy Brookline accounts, account numbers, and the 211371489 routing number were never reissued. Effective September 2025.
The procedures below reflect Beacon Bank's accounts. Account servicing may transfer as the change takes effect.
Beacon Bank Call Center
Beacon Bank & Trust, 131 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116
Beacon Bank Trust & Estate Services (trust administration and estate settlement)
Beacon Bank Call Center — deposit estate matters are routed to a branch; there is no central deposit claims unit
Beacon Bank & Trust, 131 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116
What happens to Beacon Bank accounts after the account holder dies depends on how each account was titled. Beneficiary-designated and trust-owned accounts transfer directly. Accounts in the deceased's name alone go through the estate, and the executor or administrator works with Beacon Bank's Beacon Bank Call Center — deposit estate matters are routed to a branch; there is no central deposit claims unit ((800) 698-2265) to claim the funds.
Beacon Bank 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 Beacon Bank works as follows:
Filing a claim
- Call the Call Center at 800.698.BANK (800.698.2265), Monday through Saturday 8:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M. ET
- Or visit a local branch (locator: https://www.beaconbank.com/locations)
- To stop debit-card activity outside Call Center hours, use the 24/7 lost/stolen debit card line at 800.698.2265; the automated telephone banking line 888.685.8300 is available 24/7 for balances
- POD (Payable on Death) account: the named beneficiary presents the death certificate and government-issued photo ID and the funds pass outside probate
- Joint account with right of survivorship: ownership passes automatically to the surviving owner(s) on presentation of the death certificate
- Individual account with no POD and no survivor: an appointed personal representative presents Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration
- Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, IRA CD, IRA Savings, or HSA: the designated beneficiary presents the death certificate and completes inherited-account paperwork. A deposit-account POD designation does not govern these, and a non-spouse HSA beneficiary loses HSA status on the account
- Trust account: the successor trustee presents the Certificate of Trust or trust agreement and trustee photo ID
- File Form MPC 170 with the Probate and Family Court in the county of the decedent's domicile ($115 filing fee)
- Present the endorsed Voluntary Administration Statement to the branch as the voluntary personal representative to release the deposit balance
- Legacy Brookline Bank deposit and loan statements from February 2025 through February 2026 are available inside online and mobile banking per the official Merger FAQs
- Older statements must be requested from the branch; the Consumer Fee Schedule prices a Statement Copy with Images at $10.00 each and a Subpoena Research Fee at $75.00 per hour
Required Documents
- Certified death certificate
- Government-issued photo ID for the beneficiary, successor trustee, or personal representative
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (for a probate estate with no POD/survivor)
- Massachusetts Voluntary Administration Statement, Form MPC 170 (small MA estate, personal property $25,000 or less excluding one vehicle, 30+ days after death)
- Certificate of Trust or trust agreement plus successor trustee ID (if the account was held in trust)
- Inherited IRA / HSA election paperwork (for Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, IRA CD, IRA Savings, and HSA accounts)
What to know at this institution
Verified 2026-09-10: the complete beaconbank.com sitemap (363 URLs) contains no page matching "deceas", "death", "beneficiar", "probate", or "survivor" — the only estate-related page is the wealth-division Trust & Estate Services page — and the general FAQs page carries no deceased-account content. Deposit estate matters are therefore handled at the branch level with no published claim form, claims portal, or claims mailing address. The account agreement (POD/survivorship titling) determines how each account passes, not the will. Certificate-of-deposit early-withdrawal penalties are generally waived on the death of the owner; confirm with the banker before requesting an early payout. Fee-schedule facts an estate will meet (Consumer Fee Schedule effective February 9, 2026): Medallion signature guarantee is free to customers and Not Available to non-customers, so an out-of-state heir who is not a Beacon customer must obtain the Medallion elsewhere; a cashier's check is $10.00 for customers and Not Available to non-customers; notary service is free to customers; a Statement Copy with Images is $10.00; safe deposit box drilling is $200.00 and box contents are not FDIC or bank insured; the IRA Transfer Fee is $50.00 including account closure; an Abandoned Property fee of $65.00 (or such lesser rate as may be set by law) applies per escheated account, so an account left dormant through a long probate is exposed. Debt does not pass to a beneficiary or trust: mortgage, HELOC, and personal-loan balances remain liabilities of the estate. Existing loans are serviced at 800.698.2265, PO Box 1308, Pittsfield, MA 01201-1308; loan payments go to Beacon Bank, PO Box 4129, Woburn, MA 01888-4129; the insurance mortgagee clause is "Beacon Bank & Trust ISAOA/ATIMA, PO Box 1849, Coppell, TX 75019"; and some mortgages are subserviced by Dovenmuehle Mortgage, Inc. (DMI) at 855.674.1273, 1 Corporate Drive, Suite 360, Lake Zurich, IL 60047-8945. For a Massachusetts estate consisting entirely of personal property valued at $25,000 or less (excluding one motor vehicle), a Voluntary Administration Statement (Form MPC 170) filed under M.G.L. c. 190B § 3-1201 can substitute for full probate 30 days after death.
Prepare your letter of instruction to Beacon Bank
Beacon Bank accepts a claimant-drafted letter of instruction. We draft it for you — addressed to Beacon Bank's verified claims department, with the documents it requires enclosed.
Build your letter of instructionExpected timelines at Beacon Bank: POD, joint-survivor, and Voluntary Administration releases are typically same-visit once documents are presented; full-probate estate releases wait on Letters from the Probate and Family Court. An inherited IRA transferred to another custodian incurs the $50.00 IRA Transfer Fee, which the fee schedule states includes account closure. Delays are almost always caused by incomplete paperwork—gathering all required documents before filing the initial claim helps avoid back-and-forth.
Beacon Bank requires several documents to process a claim, including Certified death certificate, Government-issued photo ID for the beneficiary, successor trustee, or personal representative, and Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (for a probate estate with no POD/survivor), 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
Beacon Bank's official Merger FAQs state that legacy Brookline customer deposit and loan statements from February 2025 through February 2026 are available inside online and mobile banking. Anything older than February 2025 has to be requested from a branch, and the Consumer Fee Schedule effective February 9, 2026 prices a Statement Copy with Images at $10.00 each (a Subpoena Research Fee of $75.00 per hour applies to formal records requests). If you need statements spanning a date of death before February 2025, expect to request them in branch and to pay per statement, so ask for the full range you need in one request.
Not always. Under Massachusetts law (M.G.L. c. 190B § 3-1201), when the decedent's probate estate is entirely personal property valued at $25,000 or less (excluding one motor vehicle) and 30 days have passed since death, an interested person may file a Voluntary Administration Statement (Form MPC 170, $115 filing fee) with the Probate and Family Court instead of opening full probate. Present the endorsed statement at a Beacon Bank branch to release the deposit balance. Accounts titled with a Payable on Death (POD) beneficiary or joint right of survivorship pass outside probate entirely and do not count toward that $25,000 threshold. Do not let the account sit while you decide — the fee schedule carries a $65.00 Abandoned Property fee per account once a balance escheats.
No. A review of the complete beaconbank.com sitemap on September 10, 2026 found no deceased-account, estate-claim, or beneficiary page, no downloadable POD form, and no claims portal; the general FAQs page carries no deceased-account content either. Both POD beneficiary designations and deceased-account settlement are handled on signed paperwork at a branch, with the Call Center at (800) 698-2265 (Monday through Saturday, 8:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M. ET) as the entry point. The one estate-related page the bank does publish is Trust & Estate Services under its wealth division, which covers trust administration and estate settlement engagements rather than claiming a deposit account.
Retirement and health accounts pass by beneficiary designation, never by a deposit-account POD and never by the will. Traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, IRA CDs, and IRA Savings accounts cannot be retitled into a trust, though a trust can be named as beneficiary. The same is true of a Health Savings Account, where the designation drives the tax result: a surviving spouse beneficiary can treat the HSA as their own, while any other beneficiary loses HSA status on the account and the fair market value becomes taxable income to them. When a beneficiary moves an inherited IRA to another custodian, Beacon Bank's fee schedule charges a $50.00 IRA Transfer Fee, which it states includes account closure. CD early-withdrawal penalties are generally waived on the death of the owner — confirm that with the banker before requesting an early payout.
Beacon Bank's Beacon Bank Call Center — deposit estate matters are routed to a branch; there is no central deposit claims unit can be reached by phone at (800) 698-2265 for questions throughout the claims process.
When the deceased had multiple Beacon Bank accounts, some may need separate claims while others can be handled together. The Beacon Bank Call Center — deposit estate matters are routed to a branch; there is no central deposit claims unit can clarify what's needed for each account type.
Sources
Data sourced from Beacon Bank primary sources (20 pages reviewed). How we research.
Beacon Bank Call Center
Beacon Bank & Trust, 131 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116
Beacon Bank Trust & Estate Services (trust administration and estate settlement)
Beacon Bank Call Center — deposit estate matters are routed to a branch; there is no central deposit claims unit
Beacon Bank & Trust, 131 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116
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