What to do when a Platte Valley Bank account holder dies
Contact Platte Valley Bank's Platte Valley Bank Trust Services — 7-step process, 7 required documents, and 5-10 business days after all documentation is received, though estates requiring probate take longer.
Platte Valley Bank
Subsidiary of Platte Valley Financial Services Companies, Inc. (Platte Valley Companies)
pvbank.com→
Platte Valley Bank, 1212 Circle Drive, Scottsbluff, NE 69363
Platte Valley Bank Trust Services
Platte Valley Bank Trust Services, 1212 Circle Drive, Scottsbluff, NE 69363
Estate Settlement -- local office / Trust Services
Platte Valley Bank, 1212 Circle Drive, Scottsbluff, NE 69363
After an account holder at Platte Valley Bank 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 Platte Valley Bank's Estate Settlement -- local office / Trust Services at 1-888-632-7004 with the proper legal authority documents.
Platte Valley Bank offers an online claims portal that makes the initial filing process more straightforward. Survivors can also initiate claims by phone or by mailing documentation directly.
Deposit, investment & retirement accounts
The death claim process at Platte Valley Bank works as follows:
Filing a claim
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Valid government-issued photo ID for the claimant
- Account numbers, if you have them
- POD beneficiary named: the beneficiary presents the death certificate and photo ID and claims the funds directly, outside probate
- Joint account with right of survivorship: the surviving owner presents the death certificate and keeps the account
- Titled in a trust: the successor trustee presents the death certificate and the Certification of Trust showing successor-trustee authority
- No beneficiary and no survivor: the account is an estate asset. Present Letters Testamentary / Letters of Administration -- or a small estate affidavit if the estate qualifies (see below)
- IRA or HSA: these pass by beneficiary designation on the custodial account, never by a POD on a deposit account. Ask the Personal Banker for the IRA/HSA beneficiary claim and distribution election forms
Required Documents
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Valid government-issued photo ID for the claimant (beneficiary, executor, administrator, or successor trustee)
- Account information for the deceased (account numbers if available)
- For accounts with no beneficiary and no surviving joint owner: Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration
- For qualifying small estates: Nebraska small estate affidavit -- personal property not exceeding $100,000, 30 days after death (Neb. Rev. Stat. sections 30-24,125, 30-24,126); or Wyoming summary procedure -- $400,000 threshold, 30-day wait (Wyo. Stat. sections 2-1-201, 2-1-202)
- For trust accounts: Certification of Trust showing successor trustee authority, plus trustee ID
- For IRA or HSA accounts: the custodial beneficiary claim form and distribution election forms
What to know at this institution
Platte Valley Bank publishes no deposit account agreement, Truth in Savings disclosure, or deceased-account form on pvbank.com, and runs no online claims portal -- so there is no published post-death check-honoring window, government-benefit-reversal clause, or indemnification term to cite for this bank, and there is no named estate claim form to download. Settlement is handled face-to-face by the local office, and a claimant-drafted letter of instruction is the mail path. Two practical points specific to this bank. First, it is two separate charters: PVB Nebraska (NMLS #452996) and PVB Wyoming (NMLS #450087) have different phone lines, so an estate with accounts in both states must notify both. Second, the small-estate thresholds in this bank's two states are high -- $100,000 of personal property in Nebraska and $400,000 under Wyoming's summary procedure -- so many estates holding only bank accounts here can be collected by affidavit 30 days after death without opening probate at all. Ask the banker about this before hiring anyone to open an estate. Accounts administered by the bank's Trust Services department go through Trust Services (Katy Reichert, 308-632-7004, kreichert@pvbank.com), not the teller line; beneficiaries view trust accounts at https://pvb.accessasc.com. Colorado accounts under the Mountain Valley Bank brand (bankmvb.com) are a separate affiliate bank and are settled there, not here.
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.
- Deceased borrower's full legal name, date of death, and loan number
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Continue making payments on the existing loan
- Assume the loan
- Refinance in your own name
- Pay off the remaining balance
Required Documents
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Government-issued photo ID for the heir or personal representative
- Completed Successor in Interest documentation (obtained from the mortgage department)
- Documentation proving ownership interest in the property: probated will, court order, recorded deed, or trust document showing you as successor trustee or beneficiary
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (if going through probate)
- Marriage certificate (if surviving spouse)
Claims Contact
Phone: 1-888-632-7004
Platte Valley Bank, 1212 Circle Drive, Scottsbluff, NE 69363
What to know at this institution
Under the federal Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act (12 U.S.C. 1701j-3), Platte Valley Bank cannot enforce a due-on-sale clause when the property transfers to a surviving spouse, child, relative upon death, or the borrower's revocable living trust. Confirmed Successors in Interest are treated as borrowers under CFPB mortgage servicing rules and are entitled to loan information, loss mitigation options, and assumption rights. PVB Nebraska is NMLS #452996 and PVB Wyoming is NMLS #450087 -- use the phone line for the state where the loan was made.
Prepare your letter of instruction to Platte Valley Bank
Platte Valley Bank accepts a claimant-drafted letter of instruction. We draft it for you — addressed to Platte Valley Bank's verified claims department, with the documents it requires enclosed.
Build your letter of instructionOpening 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 Platte Valley Bank →Processing timelines at Platte Valley Bank: 5-10 business days after all documentation is received, though estates requiring probate take longer. Incomplete documentation is the most common cause of delays—submitting all required documents with the initial claim helps avoid additional processing time.
Platte Valley Bank requires several documents to process a claim, including Certified copy of the death certificate, Valid government-issued photo ID for the claimant (beneficiary, executor, administrator, or successor trustee), and Account information for the deceased (account numbers if available), 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
Whichever one holds the account -- they are two separately chartered banks operating under one brand. Platte Valley Bank Nebraska is NMLS #452996 and Platte Valley Bank Wyoming is NMLS #450087, and they publish different phone lines: Nebraska at 308-632-7004 (toll-free 1-888-632-7004) and Wyoming at 307-532-2111 (toll-free 1-800-777-8999). Notifying one does not put the other on notice, so an estate holding accounts in both states -- common along the Scottsbluff-to-Torrington corridor -- has to notify both. Colorado is a further trap: it is served by Mountain Valley Bank (bankmvb.com), a separate affiliate bank under the same holding company, so a Colorado account is settled there rather than with Platte Valley Bank.
Often, yes -- and the thresholds in this bank's two states are high enough that many estates holding only bank accounts never need probate. In Nebraska, a successor may collect the decedent's personal property by affidavit 30 days after death when the estate's personal property does not exceed $100,000 (Neb. Rev. Stat. sections 30-24,125 and 30-24,126). In Wyoming, the summary procedure threshold is $400,000, also after a 30-day wait (Wyo. Stat. sections 2-1-201 and 2-1-202). Bring the completed affidavit, a certified death certificate, and your photo ID to the office holding the account. Ask the Personal Banker about this route before hiring anyone to open a probate estate.
Platte Valley Bank's Estate Settlement -- local office / Trust Services can be reached by phone at 1-888-632-7004 for questions throughout the claims process.
Multiple Platte Valley Bank accounts may mean multiple claims. Some account types can be processed together, but others require their own documentation. Check with the Estate Settlement -- local office / Trust Services to confirm what applies.
Sources
Data sourced from Platte Valley Bank primary sources (19 pages reviewed). How we research.
Platte Valley Bank
Subsidiary of Platte Valley Financial Services Companies, Inc. (Platte Valley Companies)
pvbank.com→Platte Valley Bank, 1212 Circle Drive, Scottsbluff, NE 69363
Platte Valley Bank Trust Services
Platte Valley Bank Trust Services, 1212 Circle Drive, Scottsbluff, NE 69363
Estate Settlement -- local office / Trust Services
Platte Valley Bank, 1212 Circle Drive, Scottsbluff, NE 69363
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