What to do when a Community Bank account holder dies
Contact Community Bank's Customer Care Center / Nottingham Trust — 6-step process, 5 required documents, and varies based on the decedent's state of residence, your relationship to the decedent, the account types, and whether probate is required. branch staff confirm the document list at the time of notification.
Customer Care Center
When an account holder at Community 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 Community Bank's Customer Care Center (1-866-764-8638) to access and distribute the funds.
Community Bank provides an online portal for initiating death claims, which can simplify the initial notification and document submission process. Claims can also be started by phone.
Death claim process
To file a claim after an account holder's death, here is what Community Bank requires:
Filing a claim
- The laws of the state in which the decedent resided (not where the account was opened)
- Your relationship to the decedent
- The type of accounts the decedent held at Community Bank (checking, savings, IRAs, money market, or health savings accounts)
- Government-issued photo ID
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Short Certificate (Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration issued by the surrogate or register of wills)
- Other estate and state-specific documents as directed
- POD deposit accounts pass to the named beneficiary
- IRA accounts pass to the named beneficiary
- Jointly held accounts with right of survivorship pass to the surviving owner
- Solely owned accounts with no beneficiary pass to the estate and may require Short Certificate or small estate documentation
Required Documents
- Government-issued photo ID for the claimant
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Short Certificate (Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration), if the estate is administered through probate
- Small estate affidavit or state-specific transfer documentation, if the estate qualifies under the decedent's state law
- Trust agreement or Certification of Trust, if accounts are held in trust
What to know at this institution
Community Bank determines required documents based on the laws of the state where the decedent resided -- not where the account was opened. The bank recommends calling the Customer Care Center at 1-866-764-8638 or the local branch first to confirm the exact list before visiting. There is no separate online estate-claims portal; the process is initiated by phone or in branch. If the decedent held a Community Bank mortgage, a successor in interest (an heir or beneficiary who inherits the property) should contact the Loan Center at 1-888-907-1171 to be recognized on the loan and receive account information. For funded-trust and estate administration beyond deposit accounts, Nottingham Trust -- the Estate Planning & Settlement division of Community Bank, N.A. -- provides trustee and estate-settlement services.
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 Community Bank →Processing timelines at Community Bank: Varies based on the decedent's state of residence, your relationship to the decedent, the account types, and whether probate is required. Branch staff confirm the document list at the time of notification. Incomplete documentation is the most common cause of delays—submitting all required documents with the initial claim helps avoid additional processing time.
Documentation required by Community Bank includes Government-issued photo ID for the claimant, Certified copy of the death certificate, and Short Certificate (Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration), if the estate is administered through probate, along with additional paperwork that varies by account type. All death certificates and court documents must be certified copies.
Frequently asked questions
Call the Customer Care Center at 1-866-764-8638 (Monday-Friday 8 AM-6 PM ET) or contact your local branch to report the death of an account holder. The exact documents required depend on the laws of the state where the decedent resided (not where the account was opened), your relationship to the decedent, and the types of accounts held. You will typically need a government-issued photo ID, a certified death certificate, and a Short Certificate. Bring the documents to a local branch to initiate next steps.
Community Bank determines the required documents based on the laws of the state in which the decedent resided at the time of death -- not the state where the account was opened. Because Community Bank operates in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Massachusetts, the small estate threshold and the type of court certificate vary by the decedent's home state. For a New York resident, an estate with $50,000 or less in personal property can often be settled through voluntary administration under Surrogate's Court Procedure Act Article 13 without full probate, and the bank may accept the resulting certificate in place of Letters. Call the Customer Care Center at 1-866-764-8638 or the local branch to confirm the list before visiting.
A Short Certificate is the court document proving your authority to act for the estate. In Pennsylvania it is commonly called a Short Certificate issued by the Register of Wills; in New York it is the Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration issued by the Surrogate's Court. Community Bank requests this document when a solely owned account with no Payable on Death (POD) beneficiary must pass through the estate.
Trust administration and estate settlement at Community Bank are provided by Nottingham Trust, a division of Community Bank, N.A. that has held trust powers since 1911. Nottingham trust officers handle personal and fiduciary investment management, trust administration, and estate administration and settlement. For deposit-account estate claims, the Customer Care Center at 1-866-764-8638 and the local branch handle the process.
Community Bank's Customer Care Center can be reached by phone at 1-866-764-8638 for questions throughout the claims process.
If the deceased held multiple Community Bank accounts, each may require a separate claim or have different documentation requirements. The Customer Care Center can confirm which accounts require individual attention and which can be processed together.
Sources
Data sourced from Community Bank primary sources (13 pages reviewed). How we research.
Customer Care Center
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