What to do when a Langley FCU account holder dies

Section 31 of Langley's Membership and Account Agreement ("Death of Account Owner") lets the credit union keep honoring transactions until it knows of the member's death -- and then keep paying checks, drafts, and other payments or transfer orders the member authorized for TEN DAYS after the death, unless someone claiming an interest in the account instructs it to stop payment. If outstanding checks should not clear, say so in writing when you report the death. The same section lets Langley require anyone claiming a deceased owner's funds to indemnify it against any loss from honoring that claim.

Yes, within limits. Langley's Deceased Accounts Booklet states that individually-owned accounts with a designated beneficiary are closed and paid out "after any outstanding loans have been satisfied," and Section 21 of the Membership and Account Agreement gives the credit union a statutory lien and right of offset over all shares and deposits. A surviving joint owner's interest is also subject to the lien for the deceased owner's obligations even if the survivor never consented (Section 4a). Two carve-outs matter for estates: the statutory lien and pledge do NOT reach an IRA or any account that would lose its tax treatment if pledged as security; and a sole-borrower Langley credit card is frozen with interest stopping as of the date Langley receives the death certificate, with the balance falling to the estate. Loan questions go to Collections at 800-826-7490 ext. 7109, or Commercial Lending at 757-224-4777 for commercial real estate loans.

Langley gives the surviving joint owner a choice that most institutions do not publish: either move the certificate funds "as is" into a newly established certificate keeping the same dividend rate and maturity date, or cash the certificate in with NO early-withdrawal penalty. (Langley's ordinary early-withdrawal penalty is 90 days' dividends on 3-6 month terms and 180 days' dividends on terms of 12 months or longer.) If the joint owner is not already a Langley member, Langley will help them open their own membership so they can take one of the two options.

Often, yes. Langley is a Virginia credit union, so the Virginia Small Estate Act applies to its deposit accounts. Where the decedent's entire personal probate estate is no more than $75,000, at least 60 days have passed since the death, and no personal representative has been appointed, the known successors can collect the account by affidavit -- on the form prepared by the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia -- instead of qualifying in circuit court (Va. Code Sec. 64.2-600 and Sec. 64.2-601; the $75,000 ceiling was raised from $50,000 by 2025 c. 148). A single account of $35,000 or less can be paid to a successor with no affidavit at all, at least 60 days after death (Va. Code Sec. 64.2-602). The affidavit also lets the designated successor endorse a check payable to the decedent. Langley members served by the Cary and North Raleigh branches use North Carolina's collection-by-affidavit procedure instead (N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 28A-25-1).