What to do when a ConnectOne account holder dies

ConnectOne Bank does not publish a dedicated estate-services page or death-claim phone line. Call the Client Connections Center at 844-266-2548 or email support@cnob.com to report the death. For a joint account with right of survivorship the surviving owner continues to use the account; for a POD account the named beneficiary presents a certified death certificate and valid ID; for an account without POD or joint ownership, Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration are required. Because ConnectOne is a New Jersey bank, releasing a deceased New Jersey resident's account generally requires a New Jersey inheritance-tax waiver: Class "A" beneficiaries (spouse, child, parent, grandchild, grandparent) can file Form L-8 directly with the bank, and up to 50% of the balance can be released before a waiver is provided.

For a New Jersey resident decedent, yes in most cases. New Jersey places an automatic lien on a decedent's bank accounts until inheritance and estate taxes are cleared. When the account passes to a Class "A" beneficiary (surviving spouse or civil union/domestic partner, child, grandchild, parent, or grandparent), that beneficiary or the estate representative can file Form L-8 (Self-Executing Waiver Affidavit for Resident Decedents), a self-executing affidavit, directly with ConnectOne Bank to release the account without waiting for a waiver from the NJ Division of Taxation. Without a waiver, the bank may release up to half of the balance under New Jersey's blanket-waiver rule. New York and Florida accounts are not subject to an inheritance-tax waiver; a small New York estate ($50,000 or less in personal property) can instead be collected through Surrogate's Court voluntary administration.