What to do when a First Commonwealth account holder dies
Contact First Commonwealth's First Commonwealth Wealth Management — Trust & Estate — 8-step process, 6 required documents, and pod and joint accounts typically release within days of receiving a certified death certificate; the bank may keep honoring the decedent's checks and transfer orders for 10 days after the date of death unless it is notified; probated accounts follow pennsylvania or ohio court timelines.
Customer Service
First Commonwealth Bank, 601 Philadelphia St., Indiana, PA 15701
First Commonwealth Wealth Management — Trust & Estate
First Commonwealth Bank, 601 Philadelphia St., Indiana, PA 15701
Engagement Banking Center (Customer Service)
First Commonwealth Bank, 601 Philadelphia St., Indiana, PA 15701
After an account holder at First Commonwealth 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 Commonwealth's Engagement Banking Center (Customer Service) at 1-800-711-2265 with the proper legal authority documents.
First Commonwealth provides an online portal for initiating death claims, which can simplify the initial notification and document submission process. Claims can also be started by phone or by mailing the required documents.
Death claim process
Follow these steps to file a death claim with First Commonwealth:
Filing a claim
- Stop or reroute direct deposits of Social Security and other federal or state benefits — if benefits land in the account after the depositor became ineligible and the bank has to return them to the payor, it may set off against any of the decedent's accounts to recover them
- If the decedent was a representative payee for someone else's federal benefits, notify the bank and stop all further deposits to and withdrawals from that account
Required Documents
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Government-issued photo ID for the person handling the estate
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (if the estate is probated)
- Receipted funeral bill or licensed funeral director's affidavit (Pennsylvania accounts under $20,000 released to a spouse, child, parent, or sibling under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3101(b))
- Trust agreement or certification of trust plus trustee ID (accounts titled in a trust)
- Small estate affidavit or petition (if eligible under state law and no probate is opened)
What to know at this institution
Under First Commonwealth's Deposit Account Agreement (Death or Incompetence of an Account Owner or Signatory clause), after a depositor dies the balance is payable in accordance with applicable law, and the bank retains the right to pay checks and process transfer orders authorized by the deceased depositor for a period of 10 days after the date of death (or as otherwise provided by law). If the decedent owed the bank a debt at death, First Commonwealth may exercise its right of setoff or security interest against the balance even where a joint owner, POD payee, or "in trust for"/"trustee for" beneficiary has rights to the account. The bank may also set off against the account to recover federal or state benefit payments (including Social Security) deposited after the accountholder became ineligible, if it is obligated to return those funds to the payor. For a sole signer on a business-organization account, notice of death lets the bank freeze the balance, refuse transactions, and reverse or return deposits until it receives documents verifying the death and a new signer's authority. See the Deposit Account Agreement (08/09/23) at https://www.fcbanking.com/media/avwneoyd/deposit-account-agreement.pdf.
Prepare your letter of instruction to First Commonwealth
First Commonwealth accepts a claimant-drafted letter of instruction. We draft it for you — addressed to First Commonwealth's verified claims department, with the documents it requires enclosed.
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 Commonwealth →Expected timelines at First Commonwealth: POD and joint accounts typically release within days of receiving a certified death certificate; the bank may keep honoring the decedent's checks and transfer orders for 10 days after the date of death unless it is notified; probated accounts follow Pennsylvania or Ohio court 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 Commonwealth includes Certified copy of the death certificate, Government-issued photo ID for the person handling the estate, and Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (if the estate is probated), along with additional paperwork that varies by account type. All death certificates and court documents must be certified copies.
Frequently asked questions
Call First Commonwealth at 1-800-711-2265 (Monday-Friday 7:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m., weekends 8:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.) or visit a Pennsylvania or Ohio branch with a certified death certificate. The Deposit Account Agreement asks you to notify the bank immediately when an account owner dies; there is no dedicated online death-claim portal, and the bank verifies your role in the estate before releasing or transferring accounts. After a depositor's death, the bank retains the right to keep honoring checks and transfer orders the deceased authorized for up to 10 days, so notifying it promptly helps stop outbound payments.
No. First Commonwealth does not manage POD beneficiaries inside online banking and publishes no downloadable beneficiary form. The designation rides on the signature card — the Deposit Account Agreement says the most recent executed signature card determines the ownership of the account — so you add or change a POD or "in trust for" beneficiary in a Pennsylvania or Ohio branch, after calling 1-800-711-2265 if you want to confirm what to bring. IRA beneficiaries are named on the IRA agreement instead, and a trust may be named there.
Yes, within a statutory limit. Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3101(b), a Pennsylvania bank must pay the balance of a deceased depositor's accounts to the spouse, a child, a parent, or a sibling — in that order of preference — when the total standing to the decedent's credit at that institution does not exceed $20,000, provided a receipted funeral bill or a licensed funeral director's affidavit that payment arrangements have been made is presented. Above that amount, First Commonwealth will look to the account title (joint, POD, in-trust-for, or trust) or to Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration. Ohio accounts follow Ohio's own release-from-administration rules instead.
A payable-on-death or joint account passes outside probate, but it is still reportable for Pennsylvania inheritance tax when the decedent was a Pennsylvania resident. The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue applies 0% to transfers to a surviving spouse (and to a parent from a child aged 21 or younger), 4.5% to direct descendants and lineal heirs, 12% to siblings, and 15% to other heirs. The tax becomes delinquent nine months after death, and a 5% discount applies if it is paid within three months. First Commonwealth does not compute or withhold the tax for you.
First Commonwealth's Engagement Banking Center (Customer Service) can be reached by phone at 1-800-711-2265 for questions throughout the claims process.
Multiple First Commonwealth accounts may mean multiple claims. Some account types can be processed together, but others require their own documentation. Check with the Engagement Banking Center (Customer Service) to confirm what applies.
Sources
Data sourced from First Commonwealth primary sources (16 pages reviewed). How we research.
Customer Service
First Commonwealth Bank, 601 Philadelphia St., Indiana, PA 15701
First Commonwealth Wealth Management — Trust & Estate
First Commonwealth Bank, 601 Philadelphia St., Indiana, PA 15701
Engagement Banking Center (Customer Service)
First Commonwealth Bank, 601 Philadelphia St., Indiana, PA 15701
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