What to do when a Jeanne D'Arc CU account holder dies

Two separate limits, and they are often confused. Under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 171, § 42 — the credit-union statute the account agreement relies on — if no executor or administrator has demanded payment, a duly authorized officer of Jeanne D'Arc may, at its discretion, pay the surviving spouse (or, if there is no spouse, the next of kin) a total not exceeding $10,000, starting 30 days after the date of death, on presentation of a copy of the death certificate and surrender of the passbook or other instrument. The $10,000 is measured against the member's TOTAL deposits and shares, and the payment discharges the credit union's liability to that extent. Above that, Massachusetts voluntary administration under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 3-1201 covers an estate of personal property worth $25,000 or less (a motor vehicle does not count toward the cap): 30 days after death, an interested person files a sworn statement with the Probate and Family Court and collects the account with an attested copy of that statement, a receipt, and the passbook. Larger accounts need a certified appointment of a personal representative. The credit union can also set off the deceased member's loans and card balances against the account first.

It can, and you should ask. Jeanne D'Arc's Consumer Truth-in-Savings disclosure sets the early-withdrawal penalty at 90 days of dividends on certificates with a term of one year or less, and 180 days of dividends on terms over one year — then states that in certain circumstances such as the death or incompetence of an owner of the account, the law permits, and in some cases requires, the waiver of that penalty. An executor who needs to break a certificate to pay estate expenses should raise the death waiver with the Member Contact Center at 978-452-5001 rather than accepting the standard penalty. The same disclosure notes the 10-calendar-day grace period after maturity, which can sometimes be used to wait a certificate out instead.

No. Jeanne D'Arc operates no trust department, no deceased-member team, and no claims portal, and it publishes no downloadable beneficiary or claim form. Beneficiary designations, trust account openings, and death notifications all run through the Member Contact Center at 978-452-5001 (toll-free 877-604-5328; Mon-Fri 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Sat 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM) or one of the nine branches in Lowell, Dracut, Chelmsford, Tyngsboro, Methuen, Westford, and Nashua, NH, with correspondence to P.O. Box 1238, Lowell, MA 01853. Two follow-ups executors miss: the credit union may keep honoring checks drawn on or before the date of death for up to ten days after death unless someone with an interest in the account orders a stop payment, and if heirs raise competing claims the credit union may place an administrative hold and wait for a court to resolve it.