What happens to your Deserve accounts when you die
Covers 1 lending accounts — all transfer through probate
Brand change
Deserve's consumer credit card program (Deserve EDU / Pro / Classic Mastercards, issued through Celtic Bank) was wound down. Cardholders were notified in August 2025 that all accounts were being closed; purchases were disabled and only the obligation to pay any remaining balance continued. Deserve the company continues as a B2B credit-card-as-a-service platform powering other brands' cards — that platform is not a consumer successor, so no successor institution is linked. As of July 2026 Deserve's consumer-facing site (deserve.com) shows only a "Launching Soon" placeholder and its cardholder support and servicing portals are offline. Effective August 2025.
The procedures below reflect Deserve's accounts. Account servicing may transfer as the change takes effect.
Deserve (consumer card program discontinued)
Deserve (consumer card program discontinued)
Deserve (consumer card program discontinued)
Deserve balances are a debt, not an asset. There is nothing to designate a beneficiary on and nothing to retitle into a trust: what the account holder owes at death becomes a claim against the estate, paid from estate assets before anything is distributed to heirs.
Estate planning around Deserve means knowing the balance exists. An executor pays the estate's debts before its heirs, so an unlisted balance is what stalls an estate late — after distributions have already gone out. Relatives do not personally inherit the debt; a co-signer or joint account holder remains obligated on their own account.
When the account holder dies, the executor notifies Deserve, obtains the balance owed as of the date of death, and resolves it through the estate's creditor process. The steps and required documents are on the death claim page.
Deserve accounts carry no beneficiary designation, because there is nothing to leave: the balance is owed, not held. It is settled by the estate as a creditor claim rather than passed to anyone.
Why trust accounts are not available
Deserve balances cannot be moved into a trust. Trust funding retitles what someone OWNS; a debt stays with the estate, which pays it before the trust or the heirs receive anything.
Sources
Data sourced from Deserve primary sources (1 pages reviewed). How we research.
Deserve (consumer card program discontinued)
Deserve (consumer card program discontinued)
Deserve (consumer card program discontinued)
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