What to do when an Enterprise Bank account holder dies
Report the death to Enterprise Bank's Customer Information Center at 1-508-732-7072
Enterprise Bank merged into Rockland TrustMerged, effective July 2025
Enterprise Bancorp, Inc. merged into Independent Bank Corp. and Enterprise Bank and Trust Company merged into Rockland Trust Company, with Rockland Trust the surviving bank, at a legal closing effective July 1, 2025. Independent Bank Corp.'s own deal-close release (SEC EX-99.1, and republished on rocklandtrust.com) states: "The legal closing was effective July 1, 2025 and resulted in Enterprise merging with and into Independent, with Independent as the surviving entity, and Enterprise Bank merging with and into Rockland Trust, with Rockland Trust as the surviving entity." The FDIC confirms it independently: cert 27408 (Enterprise Bank and Trust Company, Lowell MA) now shows ACTIVE=0 with an end date of 07/01/2025, and its history record carries change code 223, "Merger - Without Assistance," effective 2025-07-01, acquiring cert 9712 (Rockland Trust Company). Customer accounts converted the weekend of October 11 and transitioned to Rockland Trust on Tuesday, October 14, 2025; all former Enterprise Bank branches now operate as Rockland Trust locations and the routing number is 011304478. The Enterprise Bank brand no longer operates and ebtc.com no longer resolves to any web server. Existing beneficiary designations on trust deposit accounts, IRA beneficiary designations, and trust account titling remain in effect, and a death claim on a former Enterprise Bank account is handled by Rockland Trust today: call the Customer Information Center at 508.732.7072 or write to Rockland Trust, ATTN: Deposit Services, 288 Union Street, Rockland, MA 02370.
After an account holder at Enterprise Bank dies, accounts with beneficiary designations or trust ownership transfer to the designated recipients without probate. Solely-owned accounts require the estate's representative to contact Enterprise Bank's Customer Information Center at 1-508-732-7072 with the proper legal authority documents.
Deposit, investment & retirement accounts
Here is the step-by-step death claim process at Enterprise Bank:
Filing a claim
- Call the Customer Information Center at 508.732.7072 for personal accounts or 508.732.7078 for business accounts
- Give the deceased account holder's name, account number(s) and date of death
- Deliver a certified copy of the death certificate. Until the bank receives it, it may keep honoring an agent's instructions under a power of attorney
- Unwritten ("Totten") Trust Deposit Account: each then-living named beneficiary, or their legal representative, presents a certified death certificate and government-issued ID
- Written Trust Agreement Deposit Account: the successor trustee presents the death certificate, a certification of trust and trustee ID
- Joint Deposit Account: the surviving owner presents a certified death certificate to have the account updated
- Individual Deposit Account with no trust or joint titling: the personal representative presents Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration
- Massachusetts UTMA account: the custodian notifies the bank in writing on the death of the minor
- IRA: the beneficiary presents a death certificate and valid ID and completes the IRA distribution or inherited IRA forms
- The order must reach the bank three business days or more before the payment is scheduled
- If you call, the bank may require the request in writing within fourteen days of the call
- The Agreement warns that a consumer generally may not stop payment of electronic fund transfers
- Beneficiary of an Unwritten ("Totten") Trust Deposit Account: the death certificate and ID, to claim your equal share directly
- Surviving joint owner: the death certificate, to have the account updated
- Successor trustee: the certification of trust, the death certificate and trustee identification
- Personal representative: Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration and the death certificate
- Do not use the general contact form on rocklandtrust.com. The page says it is for general inquiries only and asks that no personal or account information be included
Required Documents
- Death certificateA certified copy. Under the Agreement, receiving it ends an attorney-in-fact's authority in the bank's records.
- Government-issued photo ID, for the beneficiary, trustee, custodian or personal representative
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, for an account in one name with no trust or joint titling
- Certification of trust and trustee identification, for a Written Trust Agreement deposit account
- IRA beneficiary designation and inherited IRA distribution forms, for an IRA
- Written notice from the custodian, on the death of the minor who owns a UTMA account
- Written stop-payment instruction, for preauthorized debitsIt must reach the bank three business days before the scheduled payment.
- Massachusetts voluntary administration filing, if the estate qualifies for voluntary administration in Massachusetts
What happens to each kind of account6
- Payable-on-death account
At Rockland Trust the payable-on-death form is an account type, the Unwritten ("Totten") Trust Deposit Account. On the death of the trustee, or of both trustees, the funds are "owned in equal shares by the person(s) then living who is/are named as Beneficiary(ies) ... or his/her/their legal representatives."1
The funds "will not be inherited by your heirs or controlled by your will." The bank has "no obligation to notify any Beneficiary(ies) of the existence of any deposit account," so a beneficiary must already know it exists.1
- Trust account
On a Written Trust Agreement deposit account the bank may require a certification of trust and the name and address of each beneficiary, "all of whom must be natural persons." It is held harmless for relying on that certification and has "no duty to monitor the acts of any Trustee."1
- Joint account with survivorship
"The joint deposit accounts that we offer are with the right of survivorship, and not as tenants in common ... upon the death of one joint deposit account owner the funds will belong to the surviving owner(s)."1
The surviving owner presents a certified death certificate to have the account updated.2
- Account in one name
On an individual deposit account with no trust or joint titling, the personal representative presents Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration from the probate court.2
- Custodial account (UTMA/UGMA)
On a Massachusetts UTMA account the custodian must notify the bank in writing immediately on the death of the minor or when the minor turns 21. Until the bank has notice and a reasonable chance to act, it may honor the custodian's checks without liability.1
- IRA
The beneficiary presents a death certificate and valid ID and completes the applicable IRA distribution or inherited IRA forms.2
State law on paying a balance without lettersMassachusetts
- Massachusetts
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 167D, § 12
Massachusetts law permits a bank to pay from a deceased depositor's balance on proof the institution accepts, without letters testamentary or letters of administration.Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 167D, § 12Verified Oct 3, 2026View source
Limit: $10,000 held at the institution
When: after the expiration of 30 days from the death of such depositor
Paid to: the surviving spouse of said deceased depositor; if there be no surviving spouse, the next of kin of such deceased (in that order)
The section permits the payment. It does not require the bank to make it. The section sets further conditions.
Accounts handled elsewhere2
What Enterprise Bank's agreement and guidance say7
- Telling the institution
Section 10 (Death or Incompetence) of the Personal Deposit Account Agreement: "We may continue to accept, pay or collect items until we know of the fact of death or incompetence of a deposit account owner."1
- Payments after the death
Even after it knows of the death, the bank may for ten days after the date of death pay debit transactions initiated or drawn on or before that date "unless ordered to stop payment." Notice alone does not stop these debits; a stop-payment order does.1
- Powers of attorney
The bank keeps honoring an attorney-in-fact's instructions, with no duty of inquiry and no limit as to amount, until it receives and can act on a certified copy of the death certificate, a signed written revocation, notice that a conservator was appointed, or written notice of disability from a medical facility.1
- Debts owed to the institution
The bank holds a security interest in every deposit account and a right of set-off for money owed to it, including an obligation owed to "a financial institution acquired by us," which reaches a former Enterprise Bank loan. On a joint account one owner's debt can be taken "regardless of who contributed the funds."1
Set-off does not apply where the right to withdraw "arises only in a representative capacity," nor to an IRA or other tax-deferred retirement account.1
- Dormant and unclaimed accounts
An account inactive for an extended period may be classified as dormant, and the bank may refuse a withdrawal or transfer from a dormant account for security reasons. Abandoned accounts are escheated to the state, after which the bank has no responsibility for the funds.1
The Rates and Fees Schedule charges a $5.00 per statement period Dormant Account Fee after one year with no activity and a daily balance under $500 on the final day of the period, and a $50.00 Escheatment Fee.1
- Fees
The Rates and Fees Schedule sets a charge for each stop-payment order and lists an Attachment/Tax Levy Fee of $125.00 if a creditor reaches the account by legal process.1
- Accounts from a merged institution
Enterprise Bank no longer operates as a brand, so a claim on a former Enterprise Bank account is a Rockland Trust claim. Former Enterprise Bank accounts kept their account numbers through the October 14, 2025 conversion.2
Rockland Trust told converting Enterprise Bank customers that automatic and recurring debit card payments do not carry over and must be updated with the new card number. On a deceased customer's account those charges may already have failed, while ACH debits drawn on the account number continue.2
Not in Enterprise Bank's published guidance1
- A claim form
Mortgage and home lending
Mortgages and home equity loans are liabilities, not assets. They do not have beneficiaries and cannot be retitled to a trust.
- Call 508.732.7072 or visit any Rockland Trust branch
- Give the deceased borrower's name, account number and date of death
- Submit a certified copy of the death certificate
- Ask the bank for the successor-in-interest documents
- Provide proof of an ownership interest in the property: a probated will, court order, deed or trust document
- Pay off the outstanding balance
- Refinance or negotiate repayment terms
- Include the name and account number, what you believe is wrong and why, and the dollar amount of the suspected error if known
- Deposit-side notices go to Deposit Services in Rockland, not to this box
Required Documents
- Death certificateA certified copy.
- Government-issued photo ID, for the heir or personal representative
- Proof of an ownership interest in the propertyA probated will, court order, recorded deed or trust document.
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, if the estate goes through probate
- Marriage certificate, for a surviving spouse
Claims Contact
Phone: 1-508-732-7072
Federal law on calling a home loan after a death
These exemptions apply to a loan secured by residential real property containing less than five dwelling units.12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d); 12 CFR 191.5(b), 141.14Verified Oct 3, 2026View source
- A lender may not exercise a due-on-sale clause upon a transfer by devise, descent, or operation of law on the death of a joint tenant or tenant by the entirety.12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d)(3); 12 CFR 191.5(b)(1)(iii)Verified Oct 3, 2026View source
- A lender may not exercise a due-on-sale clause upon a transfer to a relative resulting from the death of a borrower.12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d)(5)Verified Oct 3, 2026View source
- A lender may not exercise a due-on-sale clause upon a transfer where the spouse or children of the borrower become an owner of the property.12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d)(6)Verified Oct 3, 2026View source
A federal regulation sets further conditions on these transfers.12 CFR 191.5(b)(1)(v)Verified Oct 3, 2026View source
Enterprise Bank's Customer Information Center can be reached by phone at 1-508-732-7072 for questions throughout the claims process.
Sources
Data sourced from Enterprise Bank primary sources (18 pages reviewed). How we research.
Enterprise Bank death claims support
Customer Information Center (Rockland Trust)
Phone
Business Banking accounts
Mortgage and home equity loan servicing
Hours
Mailing address
Website
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