What to do when a IMCU account holder dies
Contact IMCU's Indiana Members Investment Services (available through LPL Financial) — 5-step process, 7 required documents, and pod payees, surviving joint owners, and successor trustees are generally paid once imcu verifies the death certificate and identity documents. accounts passing to the estate wait on letters or a qualifying indiana small estate affidavit. section 31 lets imcu continue paying items the member authorized for ten days after death unless it is told to stop.
Member Services
Indiana Members Credit Union, P.O. Box 47769, Indianapolis, IN 46247
Indiana Members Investment Services (available through LPL Financial)
Member Services (IMCU has no separate death-claims department or claims portal)
Indiana Members Credit Union, C/O Member Services, P.O. Box 47769, Indianapolis, Indiana 46247
After a member of IMCU dies, the Member Services (IMCU has no separate death-claims department or claims portal) manages the transfer of accounts. POD-designated and trust-owned accounts pass directly to beneficiaries. Accounts held solely in the member's name may require probate court documents—Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration—before funds can be released.
IMCU 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 IMCU:
Filing a claim
- POD / trust account designation on a deposit account: the surviving payee claims directly. Where more than one payee survives, Section 4 gives them equal shares with no rights of survivorship between them unless state law says otherwise
- Joint account: the account passes to the surviving owner(s) by right of survivorship (Section 3.a), but the survivor's interest remains subject to IMCU's statutory lien for the deceased owner's obligations and any pledge the deceased granted — an unpaid IMCU loan or credit card balance can be set off against the account even if the survivor never consented
- Individual account with no POD payee: the funds pass to the estate (Section 2). Provide Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, or an Indiana small estate affidavit if the estate qualifies
- IRA, IRA certificate, or Coverdell ESA: the beneficiary named on the plan agreement claims. The deposit-account POD designation never applies to an IRA (Section 4), and Section 21 exempts IRAs from IMCU's statutory lien
- Trust-titled account: the successor trustee presents the trust agreement or Certificate of Trust, the death certificate, and trustee photo ID
Required Documents
- Certified death certificate
- Government-issued photo ID for the claimant
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (individual account with no POD payee)
- Indiana small estate affidavit (if the estate qualifies under Indiana law)
- Trust agreement or Certificate of Trust plus trustee ID (trust-titled account, or trust named as beneficiary)
- IRA distribution paperwork (for an inherited IMCU IRA or IRA certificate)
- Signed indemnification, if IMCU requires it under Section 31
What to know at this institution
IMCU has no online death-claim portal and no downloadable claim form: a death is reported by phone at 800-556-9268, at a branch, or in writing to the Member Services P.O. box. The controlling document is the IMCU Membership Agreement & Disclosures (https://www.imcu.com/assets/files/ZINPmkS6, Rev. 6/18). Section 31 (Death of Account Owner) allows IMCU to honor transactions until it knows of the death, and even after it knows, to keep paying checks, drafts, and other payments the member authorized for ten days unless a person claiming an interest in the account instructs it to stop; it also lets IMCU require the claimant to indemnify it for losses from honoring the claim. Section 2 sends an individual account's balance to the estate or the POD/trust payee. Section 3.a keeps a surviving joint owner's interest subject to IMCU's statutory lien for the deceased owner's debts. Section 4 splits the funds equally, without survivorship, among multiple surviving payees, states that IMCU is not obligated to notify a payee that an account exists, and excludes IRAs. Section 21 exempts IRAs from the statutory lien.
Prepare your letter of instruction to IMCU
IMCU accepts a claimant-drafted letter of instruction. We draft it for you — addressed to IMCU's verified claims department, with the documents it requires enclosed.
Build your letter of instructionExpected timelines at IMCU: POD payees, surviving joint owners, and successor trustees are generally paid once IMCU verifies the death certificate and identity documents. Accounts passing to the estate wait on Letters or a qualifying Indiana small estate affidavit. Section 31 lets IMCU continue paying items the member authorized for ten days after death unless it is told to stop. 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 IMCU includes Certified death certificate, Government-issued photo ID for the claimant, and Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (individual account with no POD payee), along with additional paperwork that varies by account type. All death certificates and court documents must be certified copies.
Frequently asked questions
Under the IMCU membership agreement, when more than one POD or trust beneficiary survives the last account owner, the funds are distributed in equal shares and without rights of survivorship, unless state law provides otherwise. This means each surviving beneficiary receives an equal portion and no beneficiary automatically inherits another's share if a co-beneficiary predeceases them. Members who want unequal allocations or per-stirpes distribution should specify percentage shares when completing the beneficiary designation.
Survivorship controls over a POD designation. IMCU joint accounts include rights of survivorship by default, meaning the entire account passes to the surviving owner(s) when one owner dies; a POD beneficiary does not receive anything until all owners have died. A surviving owner's interest is also subject to the credit union's statutory lien for any obligations of the deceased owner. Members who want a POD beneficiary to receive a share immediately at the first death should hold the account individually rather than jointly.
Yes, for a limited window. Section 31 (Death of Account Owner) of the IMCU Membership Agreement lets IMCU honor transactions on an account until it knows of the member's death, and even after it learns of the death it may continue paying checks, drafts, and other payments the member authorized for ten days, unless someone claiming an interest in the account instructs it to stop payment. That means an executor or POD payee who waits to notify IMCU can watch a subscription, an insurance draft, or an outstanding check clear out of the estate's money. Call Member Services at 800-556-9268 or visit a branch as soon as possible, and say in writing that you are claiming an interest in the account and want payments stopped. Section 31 also lets IMCU require whoever claims the funds to indemnify the credit union for losses resulting from honoring the claim.
For deposit accounts, yes. Section 21 of the IMCU Membership Agreement gives the credit union a statutory lien and right of offset over the funds in a member's accounts for what the member owes it, and Section 3.a states that a surviving joint owner's interest is subject to that lien for the deceased owner's obligations and to any pledge the deceased granted, even if the survivor never consented. So an unpaid IMCU auto loan, credit card, or overdraft can reduce what a surviving joint owner or POD payee actually receives. Section 21 carves out one important exception: the statutory lien and pledge do not apply to an Individual Retirement Account or to any other account that would lose its special tax treatment, so an IMCU IRA passing to a named beneficiary is not exposed to the member's IMCU debts in the same way.
IMCU's Member Services (IMCU has no separate death-claims department or claims portal) can be reached by phone at 1-800-556-9268 and email at members@imcu.com for questions throughout the claims process.
When the deceased had multiple IMCU accounts, some may need separate claims while others can be handled together. The Member Services (IMCU has no separate death-claims department or claims portal) can clarify what's needed for each account type.
Sources
Data sourced from IMCU primary sources (15 pages reviewed). How we research.
Member Services
Indiana Members Credit Union, P.O. Box 47769, Indianapolis, IN 46247
Indiana Members Investment Services (available through LPL Financial)
Member Services (IMCU has no separate death-claims department or claims portal)
Indiana Members Credit Union, C/O Member Services, P.O. Box 47769, Indianapolis, Indiana 46247
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