What to do when a Busey account holder dies
Report the death to Busey Customer Care at 1-800-672-8739
After an account holder at Busey dies, accounts with beneficiary designations or trust ownership transfer to the designated recipients without probate. Solely-owned accounts require the estate's representative to contact Busey Customer Care at 1-800-672-8739 with the proper legal authority documents.
Begin by calling Busey at 1-800-672-8739. You will need the deceased's full name, account numbers, and the death certificate to get the process started.
Death claim process
The death claim process at Busey works as follows:
Filing a claim
- Busey has no claims portal; death claims run through Customer Care or a banking center
- If outstanding checks should not be paid, say so: a stop payment from someone claiming an interest in the account ends the ten-day window for checks
- Mail the form to Busey, Attn: Data Entry, PO Box 17430, Urbana, IL 61803
- Busey warns that online account access, the Busey Debit Mastercard and Overdraft Advantage privileges may be suspended after 30 days of returned mail
- Certified death certificate
- Valid government-issued photo ID
- Payable-on-death accounts: the death certificate and the beneficiary's ID
- Joint accounts: the death certificate, to update account ownership to the survivor
- Estate accounts: Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, or a qualifying state small-estate affidavit
- Trust accounts: the trust agreement or Certificate of Trust and the successor trustee's identification
Required Documents
- Certified death certificate
- Government-issued photo ID for the beneficiary or authorized representative
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, for a probate estate
- Trust agreement or Certificate of Trust, and the successor trustee's ID, if the account is held in trust
- State small-estate affidavit, for a small estate with no Letters, where the estate qualifies
- Change of Address form, if statements and notices need to be redirected to the fiduciary
Forms Busey issues1
- Change of Address form
Available to download.1
What happens to each kind of account9
- Account in one name
At the death of the party on a single-party account, ownership passes as part of the estate.2
- Joint account with survivorship
On a multiple-party account with right of survivorship, ownership passes to the surviving party or parties.2
The surviving owner or owners present a death certificate to remove the deceased person from the account.3
- Joint account without survivorship
On a multiple-party account without right of survivorship, the deceased party's ownership passes as part of that party's estate.2
- Payable-on-death account
On a single-party account with a pay-on-death designation, ownership passes to the designated beneficiaries and is not part of the estate. A beneficiary cannot withdraw until all persons who created the account have died and that beneficiary is then living.2
If two or more named beneficiaries survive, they own the account in equal shares, without right of survivorship among them.2
The named beneficiary provides a certified death certificate and valid government-issued ID to claim the funds.3
- IRA
For an IRA CD, the named beneficiary provides a death certificate and completes distribution or transfer paperwork. A trust can be the named IRA beneficiary.3
- Health savings account
The named beneficiary claims the health savings account.3
- Custodial account (UTMA/UGMA)
The balance of a Minor Savings account already belongs to the minor. If the custodian died, a successor custodian takes over, and the account is not part of the custodian's estate.3
- Trust account
The successor trustee provides the trust agreement or Certificate of Trust, a death certificate, and trustee identification.3
- Certificate of deposit
The deposit agreement says Busey "may impose early withdrawal penalties on a withdrawal from a time account even if you don't initiate the withdrawal."2
The penalty is 6 months of interest on terms of 12 months or less and 12 months of interest on longer terms, capped at the interest earned during the current term. At maturity a CD renews at the standard base rate unless the estate acts.3
State law on paying a balance without lettersFlorida, New Mexico, Texas
- Florida
Fla. Stat. § 735.303
Florida law permits a bank to pay from a deceased depositor's balance on an affidavit made under oath, without letters testamentary or letters of administration.Fla. Stat. § 735.303Verified Oct 3, 2026View source
Paid to: family member (surviving spouse; else adult child; else adult descendant; else parent)
Limit: $2,000 held at the institution and $2,000 in total from every holder
When: not earlier than 6 months after the date of the decedent’s death
The section permits the payment. It does not require the bank to make it. The section sets further conditions.
- New Mexico
NMSA 1978 § 58-1-8
New Mexico law permits a bank to pay from a deceased depositor's balance on proof the institution accepts, without letters testamentary or letters of administration.NMSA 1978 § 58-1-8Verified Oct 3, 2026View source
Limit: $2,000 held at the institution
Paid to: the surviving spouse; the surviving next of kin, of the closest degree of lineal consanguinity (in that order)
The section permits the payment. It does not require the bank to make it. The section sets further conditions.
- Texas
Tex. Est. Code § 152.051
Texas law permits a bank to pay from a deceased depositor's balance on an order of the court, without letters testamentary or letters of administration.Tex. Est. Code § 152.051Verified Oct 3, 2026View source
Paid to: a funeral home or the applicant, for funeral and burial expenses
Limit: $5,000 in total from every holder
When: the application may be filed "not earlier than the third day after the date of the decedent's death and not later than nine months after the date of the decedent's death"
The section permits the payment. It does not require the bank to make it. The section sets further conditions.
Accounts handled elsewhere3
- Elan Financial Services
Busey-branded credit cards, which Elan issues; a card balance is settled with Elan, not Busey Customer Care3
Phone: 1-866-234-4691
Hours: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Raymond James
Busey Investment Services brokerage accounts, under the Raymond James transfer-on-death or estate process4
- Busey Wealth Management Trust Services & Estate Advisory
Estates that need a corporate executor or trustee, and estate administration5
Help Busey offers survivors1
- Message to My Loved Ones
A free estate-information packet from Busey Wealth Management.6
What Busey's agreement and guidance say3
- Telling the institution
"You agree to notify us promptly if any person with a right to withdraw funds from your account(s) dies." Until Busey knows of the death and has had a reasonable opportunity to act on it, it may keep honoring the deceased person's checks, items and instructions.2
- Payments after the death
Busey may pay or certify checks drawn on or before the date of death for up to ten days after the death, unless someone claiming an interest in the account orders a stop payment.2
- Debts owed to the institution
Busey "may (without prior notice and when permitted by law) set off the funds in this account against any due and payable debt any of you owe us now or in the future," including an accelerated promissory-note balance.2
Set-off does not reach an IRA or similar tax-deferred account, consumer credit card debt, or an account where "the debtor's right of withdrawal only arises in a representative capacity."2
Not in Busey's published guidance7
- A procedure for reporting a death
- A department for deceased-customer accounts
- A claim form
- A mailing address for claim documents
- How long a claim takes
- Automatic CD penalty waiver at death
- Wealth Management direct phone line
Busey Customer Care can be reached by phone at 1-800-672-8739 for questions throughout the claims process.
Sources
Data sourced from Busey primary sources (22 pages reviewed). How we research.
Busey death claims support
Busey Customer Care
Phone
Hours
Mailing address
Website
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