What to do when a Happen Bank account holder dies

Beneficiaries take only after every person who created the account has died, in equal shares and without right of survivorship.¹

"Any pledge of this account must first be satisfied before the rights of any surviving account owner or account beneficiary become effective."²

The surviving joint owner keeps the account; the payable-on-death beneficiaries do not take yet.¹

A pledge of the account must be satisfied before the rights of a surviving owner take effect.²

The deposit agreement's fiduciary accounts clause permits an executor or administrator to open an estate account under court orders.²

A certificate of deposit has a ten-day grace period after maturity, after which it renews automatically into the same term.¹

When a borrower dies with a personal loan or TopUp loan, the bank requires the executor or administrator to send a death certificate, then files a claim against the estate for the balance. Any portion it cannot recover is treated as "defaulted and carrying zero value."¹

The personal loan and TopUp notes say nothing about the borrower's death.^{3, 4}

The CleanSweep line of credit agreement makes the borrower's death an event of default that lets the bank "require immediate payment of your outstanding balance." The bank may close or suspend the account without notice, and the estate still owes amounts that post after closure.⁵

Personal loans, TopUp loans, CleanSweep lines of credit and auto refinance loans¹

The deposit agreement asks you to "notify us promptly if any person with a right to withdraw funds from your account(s) dies."²

The bank may honor checks, items and instructions until it knows of the death and has had a reasonable opportunity to act. It may pay or certify checks drawn on or before the date of death for up to ten days after the death, unless someone claiming an interest orders a stop payment.²

If the bank must repay the federal government for a direct-deposited benefit, it may deduct that amount from the account "or from any other account you have with us, without prior notice."²

Deposit funds can be applied against any due-and-payable debt the same person owes the bank. On a promissory note the debt is "the full amount we have demanded," including a properly accelerated balance.²

The setoff right does not reach an individual retirement account or similar tax-deferred account, a debt created under a credit card plan, or an account the debtor can withdraw from only in a representative capacity.²

"A power of attorney continues until your death or the death of the person given the power," but the bank may keep honoring the agent's transactions until it has written notice or actual knowledge of the death and a reasonable opportunity to act.²

Dormant balances are surrendered to the state under the unclaimed property clause. Once surrendered, the bank has "no liability or responsibility with respect to the funds," and the claim is presented to the state.²