What to do when a Popular Bank account holder dies
Report the death to Popular Bank's Popular Direct Customer Care Center at 1-800-274-5696
What happens to Popular Bank accounts after the account holder dies depends on how each account was titled. Beneficiary-designated and trust-owned accounts transfer directly. Accounts in the deceased's name alone go through the estate, and the executor or administrator works with Popular Bank's Popular Direct Customer Care Center (1-800-274-5696) to claim the funds.
Death claim process
To file a claim after an account holder's death, here is what Popular Bank requires:
Filing a claim
Required Documents
- Proof of the account holder's death, for a Popular Direct account
- Letter of Office, from the executor or administrator, for a Popular Direct account with no named beneficiary
- Information for the estate's bank account, for an executor's claim on a Popular Direct account
- Affidavit, certification, or copies or excerpts of the account's documents, for a fiduciary account at Popular Bank, including a personal representative's, if the bank requests itAny agreement, instrument, or order pertaining to the account.
What happens to each kind of account3
- Joint account with survivorship
On a Popular Bank joint account with right of survivorship, all sums in the account on the date of death vest in and belong to the surviving owner or owners.1
State law on paying a balance without lettersFlorida, New York
- Florida
Fla. Stat. § 735.303
Florida law permits a bank to pay from a deceased depositor's balance on an affidavit made under oath, without letters testamentary or letters of administration.Fla. Stat. § 735.303Verified Oct 3, 2026View source
Paid to: family member (surviving spouse; else adult child; else adult descendant; else parent)
Limit: $2,000 held at the institution and $2,000 in total from every holder
When: not earlier than 6 months after the date of the decedent’s death
The section permits the payment. It does not require the bank to make it. The section sets further conditions.
- New York
N.Y. SCPA § 1310
New York law permits a bank to pay from a deceased depositor's balance on an affidavit made under oath, without letters testamentary or letters of administration.N.Y. SCPA § 1310Verified Oct 3, 2026View source
Paid to: surviving spouse
Limit: $30,000 in total from every holder
When: forthwith
Paid to: surviving spouse, children eighteen or older, either parent, brother or sister, niece or nephew, or at their request a creditor or the person who paid the funeral expense
Limit: $15,000 in total from every holder
When: not less than thirty days after the death
Paid to: a distributee, a creditor, or the person who paid the funeral expenses
Limit: $5,000 held at the institution and $5,000 in total from every holder
When: not less than 6 months after the death
The section permits the payment. It does not require the bank to make it. The section sets further conditions.
Accounts handled elsewhere1
- Banco Popular de Puerto Rico
Accounts at Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, a separate bank with its own estate procedure4
What Popular Bank's agreement and guidance say3
- Telling the institution
The Personal Banking Disclosure and Agreement requires you to notify the bank immediately of the death of any account owner or authorized signer.1
- What it does when notified
Death Notification Entries are reviewed on receipt, and the bank may freeze the account. A notification letter is sent to the account owner's last known address.1
- Deposits after the death
The bank may refuse, or reverse and return, government and non-government payments and debits made after the death to the U.S. Treasury or the financial institution that originated them.1
Popular Bank's Popular Direct Customer Care Center can be reached by phone at 1-800-274-5696 for questions throughout the claims process.
Sources
Data sourced from Popular Bank primary sources (26 pages reviewed). How we research.
Popular Bank death claims support
Popular Direct Customer Care Center (deceased Popular Direct account holders)
Phone
Hours
Website
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