What to do when a Credit One Bank account holder dies

Call Credit One Bank Customer Service at 1-877-825-3242 (toll-free, TTY/TDD); from outside the U.S., call 1-702-405-2042. You can also mail a written notice of death, together with a copy of the death certificate and proof of your authority over the estate, to General Correspondence, Credit One Bank, P.O. Box 98873, Las Vegas, NV 89193-8873. Include the credit-card account number so the notice is matched to the account.

No. A credit card is a debt, not an asset, so there is no payable-on-death, transfer-on-death, or beneficiary designation, and the account cannot be funded to a trust. When the primary cardholder dies, the outstanding balance becomes part of the estate and is paid from estate assets through the probate creditor-claim process.

Not automatically. The balance is an unsecured debt of the estate and is presented as a claim to be paid from estate assets in the order set by state probate law. If the estate lacks enough assets to pay all valid claims, an unsecured credit-card balance may go partly or fully unpaid, but that is determined through the estate process. One exception: if the account was enrolled in Credit One Bank's optional Credit Protection Program, that program cancels the balance up to $10,000 in the event of the primary cardholder's death, with no waiting period.

Credit Protection is an optional debt-cancellation program offered as an add-on to a Credit One Bank credit-card account. In the event of the primary cardholder's death it cancels the account balance up to $10,000, with no waiting period for the death benefit. To file a loss-of-life claim, a legal representative or family member calls Customer Service at 1-877-825-3242. Not every cardholder is enrolled, so confirm enrollment before assuming coverage.

An authorized user is not the account holder and is not a co-borrower, so an authorized user is generally not personally liable for the balance. The debt belongs to the primary cardholder's estate. After the primary cardholder's death, notify Credit One Bank so the account is closed and card use stops. An authorized user should not continue to use the card once the primary cardholder has died.

Credit One Bank's own guidance is to notify the creditor of the death and provide a copy of the death certificate along with proof that you are the administrator of the estate. Proof of authority is typically Letters Testamentary, Letters of Administration, or a small estate affidavit where the estate qualifies under state law. Include the credit-card account number so the documents are matched to the account.

No. Credit One Bank and Capital One are entirely separate companies. Heirs settling an estate sometimes confuse the two because the names are similar. Confirm which issuer appears on the card and the statements before sending a death notice. Credit One Bank's general correspondence address is P.O. Box 98873, Las Vegas, NV 89193-8873, and its Customer Service line is 1-877-825-3242.