What to do when a Old National account holder dies
Contact Old National — 7-step process, 7 required documents, and pod beneficiary or surviving joint owner: released once the bank has verified the death and the claimant's identity, without probate. trust account: released to the successor trustee once the trust documentation is accepted. individually owned account with no pod: gated on the probate court issuing letters, or on a qualifying small-estate affidavit (indiana requires 45 days from the death; minnesota requires 30). old national publishes no fixed processing timeline, and §2.10 lets it withhold funds until it has every document it reasonably requests.
Old National Client Care
Phone1-800-731-2265
Mailing Address
General correspondence: Old National Bancorp, One Main Street, PO Box 718, Evansville, IN 47705-0718. Notices of error and requests for information about an Old National LOAN (only): Old National Bank, Attn: Client Success, P.O. Box 143, Evansville, IN 47701.
International
Mortgage Servicing
Wealth Management, including 1834
Old National Wealth Advisors (Private Wealth Management)
Investment Strategies Team of Old National Wealth Advisors
Treasury Management
Bremer transition support
WebsiteLearn more→
Old National Client Care
Phone1-800-731-2265
Mailing Address
General correspondence: Old National Bancorp, One Main Street, PO Box 718, Evansville, IN 47705-0718. Notices of error and requests for information about an Old National LOAN (only): Old National Bank, Attn: Client Success, P.O. Box 143, Evansville, IN 47701.
International
Mortgage Servicing
Wealth Management, including 1834
Old National Wealth Advisors (Private Wealth Management)
Investment Strategies Team of Old National Wealth Advisors
Treasury Management
Bremer transition support
WebsiteLearn more→
Old National Client Care (deposit accounts; there is no separate published estate-claims department — estate documents are presented at a banking center)
Phone1-800-731-2265
Wealth Management / 1834 (trust and investment accounts)
Mortgage Servicing (deceased borrower)
Bremer transition support
WebsiteNotify online→
Verified Jul 2026
After a Old National account holder dies, accounts with beneficiary designations or trust ownership transfer to the designated recipients without probate. Solely-owned accounts require the estate's representative to contact Old National's Old National Client Care (deposit accounts; there is no separate published estate-claims department — estate documents are presented at a banking center) at 1-800-731-2265 with the proper legal authority documents.
Old National 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.
Deposit, investment & retirement accounts
Here is the step-by-step death claim process at Old National:
Filing a claim
1
Order certified copies of the death certificate — several. Old National's own guidance on the death of a spouse says to get at least five.
2
Notify the bank promptly. Deposit Account Agreement §2.10 (Death or Incompetence) requires it: "You agree to notify us immediately if any Account owner or other person permitted to transact on your Account dies."
- Visit an Old National banking center, or call Client Care at 1-800-731-2265 (Monday-Friday 7am-6pm CT, Saturday 7am-noon CT)
- Give the decedent's full legal name, date of birth, date of death, and the accounts you know about
- Former Bremer clients can also use the dedicated Bremer transition line, 855-682-3232
3
Understand what notice actually does — Old National's clause has no fixed grace period, which cuts both ways (§2.10):
- The bank may keep honoring checks, items, and instructions from the deceased person until it has knowledge of the death, receives the documentation it requests, AND has had a reasonable opportunity to act. There is no stated number of days; the clock is "reasonable opportunity," so an autopay or an outstanding check can still clear after the death.
- Once notified, the bank MAY freeze the account and restrict withdrawals and deposits until all obligations under the agreement have been met.
- The bank is not required to release funds until it receives the documentation it reasonably requests to verify the death AND to determine who is entitled to the funds.
- It may comply with court orders and take instructions from court-appointed representatives, guardians, or conservators — including ones appointed in a different state from where the account is held.
4
Stop the incoming federal benefit payments. This is where survivors get hurt (§2.9):
- Any federal benefit deposited to the account after a date of ineligibility — Social Security payments for months after the month of death — must be returned to the federal government, and if the bank is obligated to return those funds it may set off against any of the decedent's accounts to recover the amount.
- The bank's setoff rights expressly extend to federal and state benefit payments, including Social Security benefits, electronically deposited into the account, except where applicable law prohibits it.
- So do not spend a post-death Social Security deposit. The funeral home usually notifies the Social Security Administration, but confirm it, and tell any pension or annuity payor directly.
5
Then take the route that matches how the account was titled:
- POD account: the beneficiary claims directly with photo ID and the death certificate — no probate — but only after the last surviving owner has died, and the payout is still subject to the bank's security interest and right of setoff for debts owed to Old National (§3.7).
- Joint account: the surviving owner presents the death certificate; the default is right of survivorship, so the balance is theirs (§3.6). If the account was expressly opened WITHOUT right of survivorship, the decedent's proportionate share goes to their estate instead, and the bank may withhold funds until it has every legal document it requires.
- Trust account: the successor trustee presents the death certificate and the trust agreement or Certificate of Trust showing their authority to act. No probate.
- Individually owned with no POD: the executor or administrator presents Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration — or, if the estate is small enough, a state small-estate affidavit (see the notes below for Indiana and Minnesota).
6
Ask the bank to produce a date-of-death balance for every account. The estate's inventory, the estate tax return, and the state small-estate threshold all run off that number, not off today's balance.
7
Do not leave an inherited or unclaimed account to sit. Under §2.11 the bank treats checking as dormant after 12 months of no customer-initiated activity and savings and money market accounts after 36 months, may charge a dormant fee, and once the balance is presumed abandoned under state law it stops earning interest and is transferred to the state as unclaimed property.
Required Documents
- Certified copy of the death certificate (get at least five certified copies; Old National's own guidance says so)
- Government-issued photo ID for the person claiming
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration — for an individually owned account with no POD beneficiary
- State small estate affidavit, where the estate qualifies (Indiana: Ind. Code 29-1-8-1; Minnesota: Minn. Stat. 524.3-1201)
- Trust agreement or Certificate of Trust showing the successor trustee's authority — for a trust account
- EIN for the estate, if an estate account has to be opened
- Account numbers, and the decedent's full legal name, date of birth, and date of death
What to know at this institution
GOVERNING DOCUMENT — the Deposit Account Agreement (https://www.oldnational.com/49ea04/globalassets/onb-site/onb-documents/onb-disclosures/deposit-account-agreement-disclosure.pdf): §2.10 Death or Incompetence (immediate notice required; the bank may keep honoring the deceased's checks and instructions until it has knowledge, has the documents it requests, AND has had a reasonable opportunity to act — there is no stated grace period in days; it may then freeze the account; it need not release funds until it can determine who is entitled to them; it may act on out-of-state court appointments). §2.9 Security Interest and Setoff (first-priority security interest in the accounts for debts owed to the bank; setoff expressly reaches federal and state benefit payments including Social Security that were deposited electronically; federal benefits paid after a date of ineligibility must be returned to the government and the bank may set off against any of the customer's accounts to recover them — a survivor who spends a post-death Social Security deposit will be chasing it later; setoff does NOT apply to IRA or tax-qualified accounts). §2.11 Dormant and Abandoned (12 months checking / 36 months savings and money market; dormant fee; interest stops once presumed abandoned; balance escheats to the state as unclaimed property; IRA property is not presumed abandoned except as law provides). §3.6 Joint Accounts (right of survivorship is the DEFAULT unless specified otherwise; without it, the decedent's proportionate share goes to the estate; the bank may hold funds until every required legal document is delivered). §3.7 POD/Totten (beneficiary cannot withdraw until all owners have died and the beneficiary is then living; multiple beneficiaries share equally, without right of survivorship; the beneficiary's right is subject to the bank's security interest and right of setoff). §3.8 Fiduciary Accounts (the trustee warrants their own authority; the bank will not send statements or information to trust beneficiaries; the trust must be a domestic US trust). §3.10 Power of Attorney (a durable POA ENDS at the principal's death — the agent's authority is gone the moment the owner dies, though the bank may keep honoring the agent's transactions until it has written notice and a reasonable opportunity to act). §3.12 Non-Transferability (ownership and beneficiary changes are effective only once the bank agrees, has all documentation, and has had time to act). INDIANA SMALL ESTATE (Old National is headquartered in Evansville and Indiana is its largest deposit market): under Ind. Code 29-1-8-1(b) a distributee may collect the decedent's personal property — including bank accounts — by presenting a sworn affidavit DIRECTLY to the bank, with nothing filed in court, once 45 days have elapsed since the death, no personal representative has been appointed and none is pending, and the gross probate estate wherever located, less liens, encumbrances, and reasonable funeral expenses, does not exceed $100,000 (for deaths after June 30, 2022; $50,000 for deaths after June 30, 2006 and before July 1, 2022). Ind. Code 29-1-8-2 then discharges the bank that pays on the affidavit to the same extent as if it had dealt with a personal representative, which is why a correctly drafted Indiana affidavit is usually enough to move an Old National account without probate. MINNESOTA SMALL ESTATE (the Bremer footprint): Minn. Stat. 524.3-1201(a) requires a person holding property of the decedent — expressly including a financial institution and a safe deposit company — to pay or deliver it to the claiming successor 30 days after the death, on presentation of a certified death record and an affidavit stating that the entire probate estate wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $75,000, that 30 days have elapsed, that no personal representative has been appointed and none is pending, and that the claimant is entitled to the property. It reaches safe-deposit-box contents as well as accounts. WEALTH AND TRUST ACCOUNTS ARE A SEPARATE TRACK: a banking center cannot settle an investment or trust account. 1834 — a division of Old National Bank — provides trust and fiduciary services and estate planning and administration, and can be serving as trustee or executor already (https://www.1834.com/personal-services/estate-planning-administration/). Call Wealth Management, including 1834, at 1-800-830-0362. PREDECESSOR-BANK ACCOUNTS: if the decedent banked with First Midwest, CapStar (converted after the April 1, 2024 merger), or Bremer (converted October 20, 2025; Bremer Wealth moved to the Old National platform in February 2026), the account is an Old National account now — call Client Care, or the Bremer transition line at 855-682-3232, and specifically ask whether the POD beneficiary designation and trust titling carried through the conversion.
Mortgage and home lending
Mortgages and home equity loans are liabilities, not assets. They do not have beneficiaries and cannot be retitled to a trust. When a borrower dies, the loan obligation transfers with the property to whoever inherits it. Under the federal Garn-St. Germain Act, the lender cannot accelerate the loan or call it due when the property transfers to a surviving spouse, child, or the borrower’s revocable trust.
1
Notify Old National that the borrower has died:
- Call Mortgage Servicing at 1-866-853-3277 (Client Care at 1-800-731-2265 can route you there)
- Give the borrower's full legal name, date of death, and loan number
2
Establish that you may speak about the loan — the servicer will not discuss it until you show authority or an ownership interest:
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, if an estate is open
- Or documentation of your ownership interest in the property: a deed, the will, or the trust naming you
3
Keep making the monthly payment while the servicer reviews your documents. The loan does not pause on the borrower's death, and arrears accrue during the review.
4
Once your status is confirmed, choose how to resolve the loan:
- Pay it off (from estate funds, life insurance, or a sale)
- Keep the home and continue the loan
- Ask about loss mitigation if payments are already behind
- Sell the property and pay the loan from the proceeds
Required Documents
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Government-issued photo ID for the heir or personal representative
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (if an estate is open)
- Documentation of your ownership interest in the property (deed, will, or trust document)
- Loan number and the borrower's full legal name and date of death
Claims Contact
Phone: 1-866-853-3277
What to know at this institution
Under the federal Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act, 12 U.S.C. 1701j-3(d), the lender cannot enforce the due-on-sale clause when the home passes on the borrower's death to a relative who occupies it, to a joint tenant, or into the borrower's own revocable living trust — so an inheriting family member can keep the existing loan rather than being forced to refinance or pay it off. Under the CFPB successor-in-interest rules (Regulation X, 12 C.F.R. 1024.31, 1024.36, and 1024.38), once the servicer confirms a successor in interest, that person is treated as a borrower for most servicing purposes (account information, loss mitigation) without having to assume personal liability for the debt.
Opening an account for the estate itself
Checks made out to the estate deposit into an account titled to the estate, opened by the appointed executor or administrator under the estate's EIN.
How to open an estate account at Old National →Processing timelines at Old National: POD beneficiary or surviving joint owner: released once the bank has verified the death and the claimant's identity, without probate. Trust account: released to the successor trustee once the trust documentation is accepted. Individually owned account with no POD: gated on the probate court issuing Letters, or on a qualifying small-estate affidavit (Indiana requires 45 days from the death; Minnesota requires 30). Old National publishes no fixed processing timeline, and §2.10 lets it withhold funds until it has every document it reasonably requests. Incomplete documentation is the most common cause of delays—submitting all required documents with the initial claim helps avoid additional processing time.
Old National requires several documents to process a claim, including Certified copy of the death certificate (get at least five certified copies; Old National's own guidance says so), Government-issued photo ID for the person claiming, and Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration — for an individually owned account with no POD beneficiary, 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
It can, and there is no fixed grace period. The Deposit Account Agreement (§2.10, Death or Incompetence) says the bank may continue to honor checks, other items, and instructions on the account from the deceased person until it has knowledge of the death, receives the documentation it requests, AND has had a reasonable opportunity to act on that information. That is why the same section requires you to notify the bank immediately. Once notified, Old National may freeze the account and restrict withdrawals and deposits until all obligations under the agreement have been met, and it is not required to release funds until it has the documentation it reasonably requests to verify the death and determine who is entitled to the money. So: call Client Care at 1-800-731-2265 or go to a banking center right away, and separately cancel autopays rather than assuming a freeze will catch them.
No. Under the Deposit Account Agreement §2.9, any federal benefit or payment deposited to the account after a date of ineligibility — which includes Social Security paid for a month after the month of death — must be returned to the federal government or other payor, and if Old National is obligated to return those funds it may set off against any of the customer's accounts to recover the amount. The same section states that the bank's setoff rights extend to federal and state benefit payments, including Social Security benefits, that were electronically deposited into the account. In practice the funeral home usually notifies the Social Security Administration, but confirm that it happened, notify any pension or annuity payor yourself, and leave a post-death deposit alone until the payor reclaims it. Note the one carve-out: the bank's right of setoff does not apply to IRA or other tax-qualified accounts.
Often, yes, if the estate is small enough. INDIANA (Old National's home state): Ind. Code 29-1-8-1(b) lets a distributee collect the decedent's personal property, including bank accounts, by presenting a sworn affidavit directly to the bank — nothing is filed in court — once 45 days have passed since the death, no personal representative has been appointed and none is pending, and the gross probate estate wherever located, less liens, encumbrances, and reasonable funeral expenses, does not exceed $100,000 (for deaths after June 30, 2022). Ind. Code 29-1-8-2 discharges the bank that pays on that affidavit as if it had dealt with a personal representative, which is why it works. MINNESOTA (the Bremer footprint): Minn. Stat. 524.3-1201(a) requires a financial institution to pay or deliver the decedent's property — including the contents of a safe deposit box — to the claiming successor 30 days after the death, on presentation of a certified death record and an affidavit stating the entire probate estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $75,000, that no personal representative is pending or appointed, and that the claimant is entitled to the property. Above those limits, Old National will want Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
The accounts are Old National accounts now — First Midwest, CapStar (merger completed April 1, 2024; Tennessee and North Carolina), and Bremer (merger closed May 1, 2025, with all Bremer banking centers converting to Old National on October 20, 2025; Bremer Wealth accounts moved to the Old National wealth platform in February 2026) have all been absorbed. Designations and titling are supposed to carry across a conversion, but a conversion is exactly where a decades-old POD form or an IRA beneficiary designation quietly goes missing. Do not assume: call Client Care at 1-800-731-2265, or the Bremer transition line at 855-682-3232, or visit a banking center, and ask them to read back the recorded POD beneficiaries and the account titling on every account. If something is wrong, fix it while the account owner is alive — after death, the bank works from what is in its records.
Yes, it is a different track. 1834 is a division of Old National Bank and is its trust and fiduciary arm: it provides trust and fiduciary services and estate planning and administration, and it can be named as — and can already be serving as — trustee or executor. A banking center cannot settle a trust or investment account; the wealth line handles those. Call Wealth Management, including 1834, at 1-800-830-0362 (deposit accounts stay with Client Care at 1-800-731-2265; a deceased borrower's mortgage goes to Mortgage Servicing at 1-866-853-3277). One thing 1834 will NOT do for a trust it does not administer: the Deposit Account Agreement §3.8 confirms that for a fiduciary account, the bank sends no statements or account information to anyone holding a beneficial interest — the trustee, not the bank, is the one who has to report to the trust's beneficiaries.
Old National's Old National Client Care (deposit accounts; there is no separate published estate-claims department — estate documents are presented at a banking center) can be reached by phone at 1-800-731-2265 for questions throughout the claims process.
Multiple Old National accounts may mean multiple claims. Some account types can be processed together, but others require their own documentation. Check with the Old National Client Care (deposit accounts; there is no separate published estate-claims department — estate documents are presented at a banking center) to confirm what applies.
Sources
Data sourced from Old National primary sources (18 pages reviewed). How we research.
Old National Client Care
Phone1-800-731-2265
Mailing Address
General correspondence: Old National Bancorp, One Main Street, PO Box 718, Evansville, IN 47705-0718. Notices of error and requests for information about an Old National LOAN (only): Old National Bank, Attn: Client Success, P.O. Box 143, Evansville, IN 47701.
International
Mortgage Servicing
Wealth Management, including 1834
Old National Wealth Advisors (Private Wealth Management)
Investment Strategies Team of Old National Wealth Advisors
Treasury Management
Bremer transition support
WebsiteLearn more→
Old National Client Care
Phone1-800-731-2265
Mailing Address
General correspondence: Old National Bancorp, One Main Street, PO Box 718, Evansville, IN 47705-0718. Notices of error and requests for information about an Old National LOAN (only): Old National Bank, Attn: Client Success, P.O. Box 143, Evansville, IN 47701.
International
Mortgage Servicing
Wealth Management, including 1834
Old National Wealth Advisors (Private Wealth Management)
Investment Strategies Team of Old National Wealth Advisors
Treasury Management
Bremer transition support
WebsiteLearn more→
Old National Client Care (deposit accounts; there is no separate published estate-claims department — estate documents are presented at a banking center)
Phone1-800-731-2265
Wealth Management / 1834 (trust and investment accounts)
Mortgage Servicing (deceased borrower)
Bremer transition support
WebsiteNotify online→
Verified Jul 2026
Estate planning articles
Learn how to protect your Old National accounts and other assets with trusts, beneficiary designations, and estate planning documents.
