What to do when a Heartland account holder dies
Contact Heartland's Trust Administration and Estate Planning (German American Bank wealth management) — 7-step process, 9 required documents, and pod and joint-survivorship claims are typically completed at the branch once a certified death certificate and id are presented. ira, hsa, and trust claims take longer because of the election and documentation. probate estates run on the court's timeline — weeks to months to obtain letters or an ohio release from administration.
Brand change
Heartland BancCorp was acquired by German American Bancorp, Inc. on February 1, 2025. Heartland Bank continues to operate under its own brand as a division of German American Bank in the Columbus, Ohio and Greater Cincinnati markets, with its own Customer Care line at (800) 697-0049 and its own branches. Integration has progressed: heartland.bank now publishes German American Bank routing number 083904563, and trust administration and estate planning services are delivered under the German American Bank wealth management group. Effective February 2025.
The procedures below reflect Heartland's accounts. Account servicing may transfer as the change takes effect.
Customer Care Center
430 North Hamilton Road, Whitehall, OH 43213
Trust Administration and Estate Planning (German American Bank wealth management)
Customer Care Center / branch banking (estate settlement)
430 North Hamilton Road, Whitehall, OH 43213
When an account holder at Heartland passes away, the next step depends on how the accounts were set up. Accounts with beneficiary designations or trust ownership transfer outside of probate. Accounts titled solely in the deceased's name require the estate's legal representative to work with Heartland's Customer Care Center / branch banking (estate settlement) (614-416-4601) to access and distribute the funds.
Heartland offers an online claims portal that makes the initial filing process more straightforward. Survivors can also initiate claims by phone or by mailing documentation directly.
Death claim process
Follow these steps to file a death claim with Heartland:
Filing a claim
- A certified copy of the death certificate (bring more than one — a Heartland decedent commonly has a checking account, a club savings account, a CD, an IRA, and an HSA, and separate departments may retain copies)
- Your government-issued photo ID
- Any account numbers, statements, or CD certificates you can find
- POD beneficiary on file: the named beneficiary claims the funds directly on proof of death and identity — no probate, no court paper
- Joint account with right of survivorship: the surviving owner keeps the account; the deceased owner is removed on proof of death
- Trust-titled account: the successor trustee takes over on proof of death plus the trust documentation showing the successor's authority
- IRA: the named beneficiary completes Heartland's IRA beneficiary claim paperwork and chooses a distribution method — this is a retirement claim, not a deposit claim, and the tax election matters
- HSA: a spouse beneficiary keeps it as their own HSA; a non-spouse beneficiary takes a taxable distribution of the full value
- No beneficiary and no joint owner: the account is frozen to the estate and needs Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration — or, in Ohio, a probate court entry releasing the estate from administration
Required Documents
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Government-issued photo ID for the beneficiary, executor, or successor trustee
- Account numbers, statements, or CD certificates for the decedent, if available
- POD claims: proof of identity matching the beneficiary designation on file
- IRA claims: Heartland's IRA beneficiary claim and distribution election forms
- HSA claims: the HSA beneficiary claim paperwork (spouse versus non-spouse changes the tax outcome)
- Trust accounts: Certification of Trust or the trust agreement showing the successor trustee's authority
- Probate estates: Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration
- Small estates: Ohio R.C. 2113.03 probate court entry releasing the estate from administration ($35,000 or less in probate assets, or $100,000 or less when the entire probate estate passes to the surviving spouse); Kentucky KRS 391.030 District Court order setting apart the $30,000 surviving-spouse (or surviving-children) personal property exemption
What to know at this institution
Heartland settles estates in-branch through the Customer Care Center at (800) 697-0049. There is no estate claims portal, no published claims department fax, and no dedicated claims mailing address — the branch and the Customer Care line are the channel. Note the change since the merger: Heartland no longer publishes trust administration or estate planning service pages of its own, so a family that wants a corporate trustee or professional estate administration is referred to the German American Bank wealth management group (germanamerican.com/wealth-management/trust-administration). Heartland's deposit account agreement — the document that controls the bank's post-death handling of items, direct-deposit reversals, set-off against the decedent's debts, and indemnification — is not published on heartland.bank; request a copy at the branch.
Prepare your letter of instruction to Heartland
Heartland accepts a claimant-drafted letter of instruction. We draft it for you — addressed to Heartland's verified claims department, with the documents it requires enclosed.
Build your letter of instructionExpected timelines at Heartland: POD and joint-survivorship claims are typically completed at the branch once a certified death certificate and ID are presented. IRA, HSA, and trust claims take longer because of the election and documentation. Probate estates run on the court's timeline — weeks to months to obtain Letters or an Ohio release from administration. 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 Heartland includes Certified copy of the death certificate, Government-issued photo ID for the beneficiary, executor, or successor trustee, and Account numbers, statements, or CD certificates for the decedent, if available, along with additional paperwork that varies by account type. All death certificates and court documents must be certified copies.
Frequently asked questions
The channel has not changed: report the death to the Heartland Customer Care Center at (800) 697-0049 and settle the accounts at a Heartland branch with a certified death certificate and photo ID. Heartland BancCorp merged into German American Bancorp effective February 1, 2025, and the bank now operates as "Heartland Bank, a division of German American Bank" with its own branches and its own Customer Care line. What HAS changed is behind the scenes: heartland.bank now publishes German American Bank's routing number (083904563) and its FAQ hub is German American-branded, so an executor may see both names on paperwork and statements. Older checks, statements, and CD certificates carrying the pre-merger Heartland routing number are still the same accounts — bring them in and let the branch match them.
Checking ($MART, $MART with Interest, e-$MART, Student), savings, Market Smart and Market Manager money market accounts, and CDs can all be retitled into a revocable living trust. Bring a Certification of Trust or the trust agreement, photo ID for every trustee, and the trust's tax identification number to a branch — Heartland does not retitle accounts online. Two accounts cannot be retitled: your IRA (Traditional or Roth, including IRA CDs) and your Health Savings Account. Both are custodial accounts in your own name and pass only by beneficiary designation. You may name your trust as the beneficiary of either, but for the HSA that is an expensive choice: a trust is a non-spouse beneficiary, so the account stops being an HSA at your death and the full value becomes taxable income to the trust that year.
Often yes. First check the account title — a POD beneficiary, a joint owner with right of survivorship, or a trust title all pay out at the branch on a certified death certificate and ID with no court involvement at all. If none of those apply, Ohio Revised Code 2113.03 lets the probate court release an estate from administration when the probate assets are $35,000 or less, or $100,000 or less when the decedent's entire probate estate passes to the surviving spouse. Bring the court's entry releasing the estate from administration, a certified death certificate, and your photo ID to a Heartland branch. Property passing by POD, joint tenancy, or trust does not count toward the threshold.
Kentucky Revised Statutes 391.030 gives a surviving spouse (or the surviving children, if there is no spouse) an exemption of $30,000 in personal property and money on hand or in a bank, set apart by the District Court on application. A surviving spouse may also petition the District Court for an order to withdraw up to $2,500 from a bank account before the exemption is formally set apart. Take the court's order, a certified death certificate, and your photo ID to a Heartland office in Northern Kentucky (Fort Thomas, Ft. Mitchell, or Union). As in Ohio, check the account title first — a POD or joint account pays out without any of this.
Heartland's Customer Care Center / branch banking (estate settlement) can be reached by phone at 800-697-0049 for questions throughout the claims process.
If the deceased held multiple Heartland accounts, each may require a separate claim or have different documentation requirements. The Customer Care Center / branch banking (estate settlement) can confirm which accounts require individual attention and which can be processed together.
Sources
Data sourced from Heartland primary sources (20 pages reviewed). How we research.
Customer Care Center
430 North Hamilton Road, Whitehall, OH 43213
Trust Administration and Estate Planning (German American Bank wealth management)
Customer Care Center / branch banking (estate settlement)
430 North Hamilton Road, Whitehall, OH 43213
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