What to do when a Brazos account holder dies
Report the death to Brazos' Loan servicer at 1-800-233-0557
Notifying Brazos of a death is not a claim for money. It is the step that stops the account and starts whatever the loan's terms provide at the borrower's death, from a discharge of the balance to a claim the estate settles. The Loan servicer (1-800-233-0557) handles it.
To start, call Brazos at 1-800-233-0557. Have the account holder's full name, account numbers, and the death certificate ready before you call.
Death claim process
The death claim process at Brazos works as follows:
Filing a claim
- The deceased person's monthly billing statement comes from the servicer and carries its contact information
- Brazos lists AES-PHEAA (1-800-233-0557), Navient/SLMA (1-888-272-5543) and Nelnet (1-888-486-4722) as its servicers
- If no statement can be found, call Brazos at 1-800-453-0841 or email customerrelations@help.studentloans.com and Brazos will identify the servicer
- Email only the deceased person's full name. Brazos asks that no other personally identifiable information be emailed
- AES's death-certificate address (AES/DDB, P.O. Box 8183, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8183) is for federal loans only. Every Brazos loan is a private education loan
- For private education loans, AES asks survivors to contact it rather than mail to that box. Call AES at 1-800-233-0557 first and confirm where to send the certificate
Required Documents
- Death certificate, for the deceased borrower, benefitting student or cosignerBrazos discharges or reassigns the loan on "acceptable proof of death."
- The loan account number and the name of the servicerBoth are on the deceased person's billing statement.
- Written notice of death identifying which party to the loan died and the estate contact, if submitting by mail
What happens to each kind of account1
- Loan
Brazos does not accelerate the debt on the death of any party to the loan and "will not pursue the estate" of a deceased individual. An in-school Student Loan is forgiven for all parties, including any cosigner, when the borrower dies; a Brazos Parent Loan is forgiven for all parties when the benefitting student dies.1
When the parent borrower on a Parent Loan or the borrower on a Refinance Loan dies, the borrower is removed and any cosigner becomes solely responsible; the balance is not forgiven. When a cosigner dies on any Brazos loan, the cosigner is removed and the borrower remains solely responsible.1
Accounts handled elsewhere3
- AES-PHEAA (American Education Services)
Servicing of Brazos loans, including reports of death1, 2
Phone: 1-800-233-0557
Fax: 1-717-720-3916
Mailing address: American Education Services, P.O. Box 2461, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2461
- Navient/SLMA
Servicing of Brazos loans, including reports of death1
Phone: 1-888-272-5543
- Nelnet
Servicing of Brazos loans, including reports of death1
Phone: 1-888-486-4722
Not in Brazos's published guidance2
- A claim form
- How long a claim takes
Brazos' Loan servicer can be reached by phone at 1-800-233-0557 and fax at 1-717-720-3916 for questions throughout the claims process.
Sources
Data sourced from Brazos primary sources (10 pages reviewed). How we research.
Brazos death claims support
Loan servicer (Brazos routes deceased-borrower matters to the servicer on the statement)
Phone
AES-PHEAA (American Education Services)
Navient/SLMA
Nelnet
Brazos Higher Education (lender; routes to the servicer)
Fax
Mailing address
Website
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