What to do when a Independent Financial account holder dies
Contact Independent Financial's SouthState Wealth — Estate Settlement and Trust Administration — 8-step process, 7 required documents, and surviving joint owners and pod beneficiaries are generally paid once the branch verifies the death certificate and identity documents. estate accounts wait on letters or a qualifying small estate affidavit. two clock rules from the deposit agreement matter: southstate may pay checks drawn on or before the date of death for up to 10 calendar days afterward unless told to stop, and benefit direct deposits (such as social security) may be reversed after the death.
Brand change
Independent Bank Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: IBTX) was acquired by SouthState Corporation on January 1, 2025; its subsidiary Independent Bank (doing business as Independent Financial) merged into SouthState Bank, N.A. the same day. System conversion for former Independent Financial customers completed May 27, 2025, and branches now operate under the SouthState brand. Estate and account matters are handled by SouthState Customer Care and SouthState Wealth. Effective January 2025.
Independent Financial is now part of SouthState Bank. The procedures below reflect Independent Financial's accounts during the transition. View the SouthState Bank estate planning page.
Independent Financial
Subsidiary of SouthState Corporation (merger closed January 1, 2025)
independent-bank.com→
SouthState Customer Care (formerly Independent Financial)
Phone1-800-277-2175
Toll-Free1-800-277-2175
Mailing Address
SouthState Bank, N.A., P.O. Box 118068, Charleston, SC 29423-9910 (the payment address given to converting Independent Financial customers)
Phone Banking (24/7)
WebsiteLearn more→
SouthState Customer Care (no separate death-claims unit or claims portal; estate work escalates to SouthState Wealth)
Phone1-800-277-2175
Toll-Free1-800-277-2175
Mailing Address
SouthState Bank, ATTN: Inquiries, PO Box 118068, Charleston, SC 29423
WebsiteNotify online→
Verified Jul 2026
When a Independent Financial account holder 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 Independent Financial's SouthState Wealth — Estate Settlement and Trust Administration (1-800-277-2175) to access and distribute the funds.
Death claims at Independent Financial can be started through an online portal, which streamlines the initial notification and document upload. Phone and mail options are also available.
Death claim process
The death claim process at Independent Financial works as follows:
Filing a claim
1
Notify SouthState promptly — Customer Care (800) 277-2175 or any SouthState branch (formerly Independent Financial). The Personal Deposit Account Agreement issued to converted Independent Financial customers requires prompt notice when an owner (or anyone with a right to access the account) dies, and lets the bank keep honoring checks, items, and instructions until it knows of the death and has had a reasonable opportunity to act on that knowledge
2
Ask the bank to stop payment. The agreement lets SouthState pay or certify checks drawn on or before the date of death for up to 10 CALENDAR DAYS after the death unless it is ordered to stop payment by someone claiming an interest in the account — that order has to come from you
3
Leave money in the account for benefit-payment reversals. The same clause warns that direct deposits of federal or state benefits (Social Security, for example) may be reversed, that you should maintain funds in the account for that purpose, and that SouthState may pursue any legal or equitable remedy to recover its loss if the funds are not there. Emptying a POD account the week after the death is how survivors end up personally chased for a clawed-back Social Security payment
4
Bring a certified death certificate and your government-issued photo ID
5
What happens next is set by how the account was titled:
- Joint account: the funds pass to the surviving owner(s) on the death of any one owner; a POD beneficiary receives nothing until the LAST owner dies
- POD / statutory revocable trust account: on the last owner's death the funds pass to the beneficiaries, in equal shares if more than one survives, AFTER SouthState deducts any fees or costs the last owner owed the bank
- POD account with no surviving beneficiary: the funds are paid to the last owner's estate
- Written-trust account: the successor trustee presents the signed and notarized trust certification (the bank may also demand the full trust agreement) plus the death certificate and trustee ID
- No beneficiary, no joint owner, no trust: the personal representative presents Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration; where the estate qualifies, a Texas or Colorado small estate affidavit may be accepted instead
- IRA CD: the beneficiary named on the IRA plan agreement claims it — the deposit-account signature card does not control an IRA
6
A durable power of attorney dies with the principal — the agreement states the agent's authority to receive payments, transact, or make changes to the account terminates at the account owner's death. An agent who keeps using the account after the death is acting without authority
7
Anyone acting as personal representative, trustee, guardian, or conservator on a SouthState account must be designated in that fiduciary capacity on the account signature card
8
For a larger estate, SouthState Wealth offers estate settlement agency services and can act for or as Personal Representative: https://www.southstatebank.com/wealth/our-strategies/wealth-estate-planning/estate-settlement
Required Documents
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Government-issued photo ID for the claimant
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (no POD beneficiary, joint owner, or trust)
- Texas or Colorado small estate affidavit (if the estate qualifies)
- Signed and notarized trust certification, and possibly the full trust agreement (trust-titled account)
- Written stop-payment instruction from a person claiming an interest in the account
- IRA beneficiary/distribution paperwork (IRA CDs)
What to know at this institution
There is no SouthState death-claim portal and no published downloadable claim form: a death on a former Independent Financial account is reported to Customer Care at (800) 277-2175, at a branch, by secure message, or in writing to ATTN: Inquiries, SouthState Bank, PO Box 118068, Charleston, SC 29423. The governing terms are in the Personal Deposit Account Agreement inside the Important Account Information & Details booklet issued at the May 2025 conversion (https://prd.ssbcdn.com/ssbweb/media/pdf/merger/independent-financial-account-information-details-booklet-2025-04-14.pdf). Its death-or-incompetence clause requires prompt notice, preserves the bank's right to honor items until it knows of the death and can act, permits payment or certification of checks drawn on or before the date of death for up to 10 calendar days after it unless a person claiming an interest orders a stop, and warns that direct deposits of federal or state benefits may be reversed and that funds must be kept in the account for that purpose. The POD clause pays surviving beneficiaries equally after deducting what the last owner owed the bank, sends the money to the estate if no beneficiary survives, allows the bank to treat a defective POD/trust designation as an ordinary account, and disclaims any duty to notify beneficiaries. Power-of-attorney authority terminates at the owner's death. SouthState Wealth (https://www.southstatebank.com/wealth/our-strategies/wealth-estate-planning/estate-settlement) handles estate settlement agency work; its offices are in South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia, not Texas or Colorado, so former Independent Financial families are served remotely or through the local branch.
Prepare your letter of instruction to Independent Financial
Independent Financial accepts a claimant-drafted letter of instruction. We draft it for you — addressed to Independent Financial's verified claims department, with the documents it requires enclosed.
Build your letter of instructionExpected timelines at Independent Financial: Surviving joint owners and POD beneficiaries are generally paid once the branch verifies the death certificate and identity documents. Estate accounts wait on Letters or a qualifying small estate affidavit. Two clock rules from the deposit agreement matter: SouthState may pay checks drawn on or before the date of death for up to 10 calendar days afterward unless told to stop, and benefit direct deposits (such as Social Security) may be reversed after the death. Delays are almost always caused by incomplete paperwork—gathering all required documents before filing the initial claim helps avoid back-and-forth.
Independent Financial requires several documents to process a claim, including Certified copy of the death certificate, Government-issued photo ID for the claimant, and Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (no POD beneficiary, joint owner, or trust), and additional documentation depending on the account type. Certified copies are typically needed—photocopies are generally not accepted for death certificates or court documents.
Frequently asked questions
Independent Bank Group merged into SouthState Corporation on January 1, 2025, and Independent Bank (d/b/a Independent Financial) merged into SouthState Bank, N.A. the same day, per SouthState's Form 8-K. Former Independent Financial customers moved onto SouthState's systems over the weekend of May 23, 2025 and began banking as SouthState on May 27, 2025. There is no Independent Financial claims line any more: report the death to SouthState Customer Care at (800) 277-2175, at a former Independent Financial branch (now SouthState), or in writing to SouthState Bank, ATTN: Inquiries, PO Box 118068, Charleston, SC 29423. The old account keeps its history; the terms that govern it are now SouthState's Personal Deposit Account Agreement, which was mailed to converting customers in the Important Account Information & Details booklet.
For a while, yes. The SouthState Personal Deposit Account Agreement that converted Independent Financial customers received says SouthState may continue to honor checks, items, and instructions until it knows of the death and has had a reasonable opportunity to act on that knowledge, and that it may pay or certify checks drawn on or before the date of death for up to 10 calendar days after the death, unless someone claiming an interest in the account orders a stop payment. So the ten-day window is not automatic protection for the estate: an executor or POD beneficiary has to affirmatively tell SouthState to stop paying. Do that in writing at the branch or to ATTN: Inquiries, SouthState Bank, PO Box 118068, Charleston, SC 29423.
It can be reversed, and the agreement says so directly: direct deposits of federal or state benefits, such as Social Security, may be reversed, you should maintain funds in the account for that purpose, and if a deposit is reversed and the funds are not there, SouthState may use any legal or equitable remedy available to recover its loss. Benefit payments that arrive for the month of death or later are generally not the decedent's to keep, and the paying agency reclaims them through the bank. The practical rule for a former Independent Financial account: do not drain it as soon as you get the death certificate. Leave a cushion equal to at least one benefit payment until the reclamation has run.
Yes, and this is the sharpest estate planning risk on a converted Independent Financial account. The Personal Deposit Account Agreement says a POD or statutory revocable trust account is established by the designation on the signature card, and that during the lifetime of the owners any one owner can take any action with respect to the account or the funds, including changing the beneficiary or payee, so long as the change is evidenced by a written change to the signature card. A joint owner can therefore replace your POD beneficiary without telling you. Two related quirks in the same clause: on the last owner's death the funds pass to the beneficiary only after SouthState deducts fees or costs the last owner owed the bank, and SouthState has no obligation to notify a beneficiary that the account exists at all.
Independent Financial's SouthState Customer Care (no separate death-claims unit or claims portal; estate work escalates to SouthState Wealth) can be reached by phone at 1-800-277-2175 and email at customercare@southstatebank.com for questions throughout the claims process.
If the deceased held multiple Independent Financial accounts, each may require a separate claim or have different documentation requirements. The SouthState Wealth — Estate Settlement and Trust Administration can confirm which accounts require individual attention and which can be processed together.
Sources
Data sourced from Independent Financial primary sources (15 pages reviewed). How we research.
Independent Financial
Subsidiary of SouthState Corporation (merger closed January 1, 2025)
independent-bank.com→SouthState Customer Care (formerly Independent Financial)
Phone1-800-277-2175
Toll-Free1-800-277-2175
Mailing Address
SouthState Bank, N.A., P.O. Box 118068, Charleston, SC 29423-9910 (the payment address given to converting Independent Financial customers)
Phone Banking (24/7)
WebsiteLearn more→
SouthState Customer Care (no separate death-claims unit or claims portal; estate work escalates to SouthState Wealth)
Phone1-800-277-2175
Toll-Free1-800-277-2175
Mailing Address
SouthState Bank, ATTN: Inquiries, PO Box 118068, Charleston, SC 29423
WebsiteNotify online→
Verified Jul 2026
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