What to do when a Central Bank account holder dies
Contact Central Bank's Central Trust Company (trust administration, corporate trustee, estate settlement) — 7-step process, 7 required documents, and joint and pay-on-death accounts release once the bank has the certified death certificate and the claimant's identification. accounts that are estate assets wait on the probate court's letters (or, for a qualifying missouri estate, the thirty-day wait built into rsmo 473.097). trust accounts administered by central trust company follow the trust's own settlement timeline, which the company describes as taking months, and for a probated estate potentially years.
Customer Service
Central Trust Company (trust administration, corporate trustee, estate settlement)
720 E. Broadway, Fourth Floor, Columbia, MO 65201
Customer Service (deposit accounts, IRAs, HSA, mortgages) — trust accounts route to Central Trust Company
When an account holder at Central Bank passes away, the next step depends on how the accounts were set up. Accounts with beneficiary designations or trust ownership transfer outside of probate. Accounts titled solely in the deceased's name require the estate's legal representative to work with Central Bank's Customer Service (deposit accounts, IRAs, HSA, mortgages) — trust accounts route to Central Trust Company (1-866-236-8744) to access and distribute the funds.
Central Bank offers an online claims portal that makes the initial filing process more straightforward. Survivors can also initiate claims by phone.
Death claim process
The death claim process at Central Bank works as follows:
Filing a claim
- Prompt notice is what stops automatic payments, debit-card activity, and outstanding checks from continuing to clear
- If a specific check should not be paid, ask the bank to stop payment on it — a person claiming an interest in the account can do so within that ten-day window
- Joint account with survivorship: the balance belongs to the surviving owner(s), who hold as joint tenants with survivorship if more than one survives
- Spouses as tenancy by the entirety (in states recognizing it): the account passes to the surviving spouse
- Pay-On-Death account: the named beneficiaries may withdraw once all persons who created the account have died and the beneficiary is living. Two or more surviving beneficiaries take in equal shares, without right of survivorship
- Trust-titled (fiduciary) account: the successor trustee takes over under the trust agreement, no probate needed. If Central Trust Company administers the trust, the assigned trust office coordinates the settlement, not the retail line
- Individual account with no beneficiary and no joint owner: an estate asset. Present Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration from the probate court
- Small estate affidavit — RSMo 473.097 covers an estate of $40,000 or less, net of liens, debts, and encumbrances, and requires that thirty days have elapsed since the death
- Refusal of letters — RSMo 473.090 lets the probate division refuse to grant letters where the estate is no larger than the exempt property and statutory allowances due the surviving spouse or unmarried minor children. The court's order refusing letters is what the survivor presents to the bank in place of Letters
- For a decedent in Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Illinois, or Florida, the small-estate threshold and procedure come from that state, not Missouri
Required Documents
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Government-issued photo ID for the person handling the estate or claiming the account
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, if the estate is probated
- Missouri small estate affidavit under RSMo 473.097 (estate of $40,000 or less net of liens; thirty days must have elapsed since the death), where the estate qualifies
- Missouri order refusing letters under RSMo 473.090, where the probate division has issued one instead of Letters
- Trust agreement or certification of trust naming the successor trustee, for a trust-titled (fiduciary) account
- IRA or HSA beneficiary claim paperwork, for those accounts
What to know at this institution
Central Bank runs a branch-and-phone estate process: no online claims portal, no published death-claim form, and no separate estate phone line or claims mailing address. The controlling document is the bank's deposit account terms, "Understanding Your Deposit Account" (https://www.centralbank.net/globalassets/includedcontent/enterprise/uyda-personal.pdf) — its Death or Incompetence clause sets the ten-day check-honoring window and the notice requirement; its Ownership of Account and Beneficiary Designation clause defines the Pay-On-Death account (expressly "not subject to the Nonprobate Transfers Law of Missouri"), equal shares among surviving beneficiaries, and LDPS registration; its Fiduciary Accounts clause covers accounts opened by a trustee, executor, administrator, or conservator and disclaims any duty on the bank to monitor or enforce the trust or the letters. Retail deposit accounts, IRAs, the HSA, and mortgages are handled by Customer Service and branch staff. Accounts inside a trust administered by Central Trust Company are settled by the assigned trust office.
Opening an account for the estate itself
Checks made out to the estate deposit into an account titled to the estate, opened by the appointed executor or administrator under the estate's EIN.
How to open an estate account at Central Bank →Processing timelines at Central Bank: Joint and Pay-On-Death accounts release once the bank has the certified death certificate and the claimant's identification. Accounts that are estate assets wait on the probate court's Letters (or, for a qualifying Missouri estate, the thirty-day wait built into RSMo 473.097). Trust accounts administered by Central Trust Company follow the trust's own settlement timeline, which the company describes as taking months, and for a probated estate potentially years. Incomplete documentation is the most common cause of delays—submitting all required documents with the initial claim helps avoid additional processing time.
Central Bank requires several documents to process a claim, including Certified copy of the death certificate, Government-issued photo ID for the person handling the estate or claiming the account, and Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, if the estate is probated, 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
Central Bank's deposit account terms ("Understanding Your Deposit Account") say the bank may continue to honor the customer's checks, items, and instructions until it knows of the death and has had a reasonable opportunity to act on that knowledge — and that it may pay or certify checks drawn on or before the date of death for up to ten (10) days after the death, unless someone claiming an interest in the account orders a stop payment. That is why the same terms require prompt notice when anyone with a right to withdraw dies. Call Customer Service at 1-866-236-8744 or go to a branch as soon as possible, and ask for a stop payment on any specific check the estate should not pay.
Equally, and with no right of survivorship between them. Central Bank's deposit account terms state that if two or more beneficiaries are named and survive the death of everyone who created the account, they own the account in equal shares, without right of survivorship. Beneficiaries cannot withdraw until all persons who created the account have died and the beneficiary is then living. The account creator keeps the right to change beneficiaries, change the account type, and withdraw the funds at any time. If an uneven split matters, the deposit account itself is not the place to build it — the bank's form pays in equal shares.
Often, yes — through one of two Missouri routes. A small estate affidavit under RSMo 473.097 applies where the entire estate, less liens, debts, and encumbrances, is $40,000 or less and thirty days have elapsed since the death. Refusal of letters under RSMo 473.090 lets the probate division decline to grant Letters when the estate is no larger than the exempt property and statutory allowances due the surviving spouse or unmarried minor children; the court's order refusing letters is then what the survivor brings to the bank instead of Letters. Central Bank also serves Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Illinois, and Florida, where the threshold and procedure come from that state's law instead. Confirm the current threshold with the probate court before relying on either route.
With the trust office that services the account, not the retail Customer Service line. Central Trust Company keeps offices in Columbia (573-874-8490), Jefferson City (573-634-1291), Springfield (417-883-3838), St. Louis (314-725-9055), and Osage Beach at the Lake of the Ozarks (573-302-2474) in Missouri, plus Overland Park, Kansas (913-901-3282), Oklahoma City (405-930-3880), Greenwood Village, Colorado (720-640-6768), and Naples, Florida (239-306-8850). Central Trust describes the estate settlement work it performs as locating and validating the original will, petitioning the court for probate and appointment, identifying, securing, and valuing assets, paying debts and taxes, distributing what remains, and providing court-required accounting.
Central Bank's Customer Service (deposit accounts, IRAs, HSA, mortgages) — trust accounts route to Central Trust Company can be reached by phone at 1-866-236-8744 and email at cbccustomerservice@centralbank.net for questions throughout the claims process.
If the deceased held multiple Central Bank accounts, each may require a separate claim or have different documentation requirements. The Customer Service (deposit accounts, IRAs, HSA, mortgages) — trust accounts route to Central Trust Company can confirm which accounts require individual attention and which can be processed together.
Sources
Data sourced from Central Bank primary sources (17 pages reviewed). How we research.
Customer Service
Central Trust Company (trust administration, corporate trustee, estate settlement)
720 E. Broadway, Fourth Floor, Columbia, MO 65201
Customer Service (deposit accounts, IRAs, HSA, mortgages) — trust accounts route to Central Trust Company
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