What to do when a First Command account holder dies
Contact First Command's Wealth Management & Trust Services — 7-step process, 6 required documents, and varies by complexity; contact your financial advisor or the home office for current timelines
Personal Banking
1 FirstComm Plaza, Fort Worth, TX 76109-4999
Death Claims / Financial Services
First Command, P.O. Box 2387, Fort Worth, TX 76113-2387
After an account holder at First Command 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 First Command's Death Claims / Financial Services at 1-800-443-2104 with the proper legal authority documents.
To start a claim, contact First Command by phone at 1-800-443-2104 or email documentation to clientservices@firstcommand.com. You will need the account holder's full name, account numbers, and a certified death certificate.
Death claim process
To file a claim after an account holder's death, here is what First Command requires:
Filing a claim
- Brokerage TOD accounts: designated beneficiaries provide the death certificate and government-issued ID; assets pass under the executed Individual or Joint Transfer on Death Account Agreement
- Brokerage accounts with no TOD: provide Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration
- Bank deposit accounts: the disposition follows the account type the owner selected on the Uniform Single-Party or Multiple-Party Account Selection Form -- P.O.D. payees claim with a death certificate and ID, and an account with no P.O.D. designation passes into the estate
- Trust accounts: the successor trustee provides proof of succession and trust documentation before any funds are released
- IRAs custodied by First Command Bank: the named IRA beneficiary claims on the IRA beneficiary designation, not through the estate
Required Documents
- Certified death certificate (multiple copies recommended)
- Government-issued photo ID for claimant
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (if no TOD or P.O.D. designation)
- Trust documents and proof of successor trustee status (for trust accounts)
- Transfer on Death Account Agreement (if TOD was established on a brokerage account)
- IRA beneficiary designation (for IRAs custodied by First Command Bank)
What to know at this institution
First Command is an advisor-driven firm: the decedent's Financial Advisor is the first point of contact for estate matters, and the firm publishes no standalone bereavement desk, claim portal, or downloadable death claim form. Brokerage assets sit at FCBS with Pershing LLC as custodian and clearing firm, so transfers to beneficiaries settle through Pershing. Deposit accounts are held at First Command Bank, a Texas-chartered bank with a single branch (1 FirstComm Plaza, Fort Worth) -- its Depository Agreement and Disclosures (form 14-39-E) supplies the death mechanics: prompt-notice duty, the ten-day check-honoring window after death, Texas account-selection types that decide whether the balance goes to a P.O.D. payee or the estate, and waiver of the CD early withdrawal penalty on an owner's death. FCB Wealth Management & Trust Services can act as successor trustee and is authorized as a professional trustee in all 50 states, examined by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency every 15-18 months plus an independent auditor. Trust Services: 1-888-763-7603. 24-Hour Phone Banking: 1-888-763-7601. Personal Banking: 1-888-763-7600. Financial Services: 1-800-443-2104. Email: clientservices@firstcommand.com.
Prepare your letter of instruction to First Command
First Command asks for a letter of instruction alongside its claim form. We prepare a transmittal cover letter and the enclosure checklist First Command requires.
Build your letter of instructionOpening 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 First Command →Expected timelines at First Command: Varies by complexity; contact your Financial Advisor or the home office for current timelines. Delays are almost always caused by incomplete paperwork—gathering all required documents before filing the initial claim helps avoid back-and-forth.
Documentation required by First Command includes Certified death certificate (multiple copies recommended), Government-issued photo ID for claimant, and Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (if no TOD or P.O.D. designation), along with additional paperwork that varies by account type. All death certificates and court documents must be certified copies.
Frequently asked questions
Through your assigned Financial Advisor -- First Command has no online beneficiary self-service. A single-owner account takes TOD beneficiaries only when you complete and execute the Individual Transfer on Death Account Agreement obtained from your advisor; a joint account uses the Joint Transfer on Death Account Agreement, and on the death of both joint tenants the account passes to the TOD beneficiaries named in it (First Command Brokerage Services Form 1902, https://cdn.firstcommand.com/assets/web-documents/brokerage-fee-schedule.pdf). One catch specific to First Command: if assets in the account are pledged as collateral for a debt to First Command Bank or any other creditor, your beneficiary's rights to the account are subject to that creditor's interest.
The account type you checked on the Uniform Single-Party or Multiple-Party Account Selection Form when you opened it. Under the First Command Bank Depository Agreement and Disclosures (https://cdn.firstcommand.com/assets/web-documents/depository-agreement.pdf), a single-party account WITHOUT a P.O.D. designation passes through your will or by intestacy; a single-party account WITH a P.O.D. designation passes to the P.O.D. beneficiaries and is not part of your estate; a multiple-party account with right of survivorship passes to the surviving parties; and a trust account passes to the beneficiary on the death of the last surviving trustee. A convenience signer can transact for you while you are alive but takes nothing at your death unless they are also a named P.O.D. payee or trust beneficiary. Call Personal Banking at 1-888-763-7600 to check or change how your account is titled.
Normally a First Command CD carries an early withdrawal penalty of 30 days interest (original maturity under one year) or 90 days interest (one year or more). The Depository Agreement states that in certain circumstances, such as the death or incompetence of an owner of the account, the law permits -- and in some cases requires -- waiver of the early withdrawal penalty. If you are settling an estate that holds a First Command CD, ask Personal Banking (1-888-763-7600) to apply the death-of-owner waiver rather than accepting the standard penalty.
First Command's Death Claims / Financial Services can be reached by phone at 1-800-443-2104 and email at clientservices@firstcommand.com for questions throughout the claims process.
Multiple First Command investment accounts may mean multiple claims. Some account types can be processed together, but others require their own documentation. Check with the Death Claims / Financial Services to confirm what applies.
Sources
Data sourced from First Command primary sources (22 pages reviewed). How we research.
Personal Banking
1 FirstComm Plaza, Fort Worth, TX 76109-4999
Death Claims / Financial Services
First Command, P.O. Box 2387, Fort Worth, TX 76113-2387
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