What to do when a PlainsCapital account holder dies

On a P.O.D. account, the funds pass to the surviving named payees, outside the will.¹

On an informal trust account ("in trust for"), ownership passes to the named beneficiary on the death of the last surviving trustee, and the account is not part of the trustee's estate.¹

On a multiple-party account with right of survivorship, the account continues in the surviving party's name.¹

On a multiple-party account without right of survivorship, the funds pass through the estate, and the bank pays the personal representative on Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.¹

On a single-party account with no P.O.D. payee, the funds pass through the estate, and the bank pays the personal representative on Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.¹

On a community property account held by a married couple, the deposit agreement says ownership at death is determined by Texas community property law and may be affected by the will.¹

A safe deposit box goes dormant once rent is delinquent, nine months after the last rental payment expired, and the contents are escheated after five years.¹

Box access is a separate procedure from the deposit claim.²

If no key turns up, the fee schedule charges $100 to replace lost keys, $100 to exchange locks and $350 to drill the lock.³

Under section 15 of the HTS Customer Information Brochure, where the Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship box is marked, "on the death of any account holder, the deceased party's ownership of the account passes to the surviving account holders."⁴

The deceased holder's estate and each survivor remain jointly and severally liable for any net debit balance from transactions started before HilltopSecurities receives written notice of the death.⁴

Mortgages PrimeLending still services; ask for the Successor in Interest package⁵

Brokerage and wealth management; one line for headquarters, public finance, capital markets and wealth management⁶

Clearing, a separate desk from the main HilltopSecurities line⁶

Trusts and estates PlainsCapital itself administers, including serving as executor⁷

Old National Lloyds insurance policies; Hilltop sold that business in 2020²

The fee schedule charges $25 an hour plus $2 per statement for research ($25 minimum), $5 for an account activity printout and $5 for a special cut-off statement.³

Under the deposit agreement, the bank's authority to pay items is not revoked until it has actual knowledge of the death and a reasonable opportunity to act on it.¹

The bank may keep paying or certifying checks drawn on or before the date of death for ten days after the death, unless someone claiming an interest in the account orders a stop payment.¹

Reporting the death stops further card and Zelle activity.²

If the bank must reimburse a government source for a benefit payment deposited to the account, the owner authorizes it to deduct the full amount "from the account or from any other account you have with us, without prior notice and at any time."¹

This holds "even if the governmental source or entity making the reclamation claim is incorrect or mistaken."¹

The bank holds a security interest in every account and may apply balances, individual or joint, to any debt the account owner owes it, without prior notice. This reaches "any federal or state benefits payments, including without limitation Social Security benefits payments."¹

On a joint account, each owner is treated as authorizing setoff against every account of every other owner.¹

On conflicting claims, or if the bank "has reason to believe there is a dispute over signatory authority," it may keep relying on its own records or place a hold or credits-only freeze until the dispute is resolved "to our sole satisfaction."¹

It may also require the written agreement and signatures of all existing signatories before any transaction, or close the account and send a check payable jointly to you and each claimant.¹

Checking, savings, money market, health savings, time deposit and IRA accounts are presumed abandoned after three years of inactivity and escheated to the Texas Comptroller. The account is then closed, earns no interest, and the money must be claimed from the state.¹

Contact with the bank, such as a deposit, a withdrawal, an address update or a phone call about the dormant account, stops the clock.¹

The deposit agreement says an escheated traditional IRA "may be treated as a designated distribution," subject to federal withholding and reporting.¹

The fee schedule charges $75 for legal process, such as a freeze, a levy or a law-enforcement information request, and $100 plus actual legal costs for a writ of garnishment.³

HilltopSecurities charges a $50 legal transfer fee, $25 an hour for customer research or document reproduction, and $150 to transfer the account to another firm (ACAT or non-ACAT). On an IRA it charges a $75 annual fee and a $50 account termination fee.⁸