What to do when a Hanscom FCU account holder dies

On a "Revocable Trust Account", payment may be made to the person for whom the trust was made, or that person's legal representative, on the death of the trustee(s).¹

The beneficiary provides a certified death certificate and photo ID, with no probate filing.²

The balance belongs to the surviving owners as joint tenants with survivorship. The surviving owner provides a certified death certificate.²

The successor trustee provides a certified death certificate, the trust document or Certification of Trust naming them, and photo ID.²

A Traditional, Roth or Coverdell IRA is distributed to the beneficiary named on the IRA application, not under the deposit-account designation.²

With no beneficiary, a personal representative provides Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration. For a qualifying small Massachusetts estate, an attested copy of a Voluntary Administration Statement (Form MPC 170) issued by the Probate and Family Court is accepted instead.²

The Bylaws (Art. III Sec. 5(d)) provide that "the share account of a deceased member (other than one held in joint tenancy with another member) may be continued until the close of the dividend period in which the administration of the deceased's estate is completed".³

The disclosure states that in certain circumstances such as the death or incompetence of an owner, the law permits, and in some cases requires, waiver of the early-withdrawal penalty: 90 days' dividends on terms of one year or less, 180 days' on longer terms.¹

An authorized signer's authority ends automatically when the owner dies, but Hanscom FCU may keep honoring that signer's transactions until it has written notice or actual knowledge of the death and a reasonable opportunity to act on it.¹

If Hanscom FCU must reimburse the federal government for a benefit payment, such as a Social Security deposit that posts after the date of death, it may deduct the amount from the account "or from any other account you have with us, without prior notice and at any time".¹

Hanscom FCU's right of set-off reaches share balances for debts the member owed it. It does not reach an Individual Retirement Account or similar tax-deferred account, or debt created under a credit card plan.¹

Any pledge of the account, such as a share-secured loan, must be satisfied before the rights of a surviving owner or beneficiary become effective.¹

Every membership carries one $5.00 par share in a Prime Share Savings account. That balance stays in place while any other Hanscom FCU account or loan remains open and is released only when the membership itself is closed.²

Maryland accounts sit with the former Peoples Bank offices, which trade as Peoples Powered by Hanscom Federal Credit Union. The January 2026 acquisition release put systems conversion in summer 2026, so a Maryland account may still be on legacy Peoples Bank account numbers and digital banking.⁴