What to do when a PSECU account holder dies
Contact PSECU's Application Processing (Estate, Living Trust, and Tentative Trust accounts) — 7-step process, 6 required documents, and psecu asks for up to 3 business days to close the account once it receives form 4980. getting to that point takes as long as the county register of wills takes to issue the short certificate or letters, unless a surviving joint owner or a tentative trust beneficiary can act on the death certificate alone.
PSECU, P.O. Box 67013, Harrisburg, PA 17106-7013
Application Processing (Estate, Living Trust, and Tentative Trust accounts)
PSECU, P.O. Box 67009, Harrisburg, PA 17106-7009
Decedent Department
PSECU, P.O. Box 67013, Harrisburg, PA 17106, Attn: Decedent Department
After a member of PSECU dies, the Decedent Department manages the transfer of accounts. POD-designated and trust-owned accounts pass directly to beneficiaries. Accounts held solely in the member's name may require probate court documents—Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration—before funds can be released.
Death claims at PSECU can be started through an online portal, which streamlines the initial notification and document upload. Phone and mail options are also available.
Death claim process
Follow these steps to file a death claim with PSECU:
Filing a claim
- A surviving Joint Owner (limited to the Shares their ownership rights cover; a Joint Owner cannot act on a loan unless they are the Co-Borrower)
- A Co-Borrower, for the loan they co-signed
- An Executor named in a Pennsylvania Short Certificate, or an Administrator named in Letters of Administration — both obtained from the county Register of Wills
- PSECU will NOT accept a Power of Attorney (POA authority ceases at the principal's death, so the agent may no longer sign checks or see account information) or an unexecuted will
- Mail: PSECU, P.O. Box 67013, Harrisburg, PA 17106, Attn: Decedent Department
- Email: decedent@psecu.com
- In person: the Lemoyne or Cameron Street (Harrisburg) branch, or the State College service center
- Individual account: services and all automatic payments are turned off once the death is verified, and the account is closed so that IRS reporting is correct
- Joint account, primary owner (the SSN used for tax reporting) died: the account MUST be closed for IRS reporting. The surviving Joint Owner may keep writing checks and accessing Shares while transitioning to a new account or a new PSECU membership
- Joint account, a non-primary owner died: the account may stay open. Call (800) 237-7328, extension 3838 to remove the deceased Joint Owner; new checks or cards can be ordered
- Tentative Trust (POD) account: funds go to the designated beneficiaries, and Form 4980 lets the beneficiary take the money as a check or into their own PSECU account
- Certificates: redeemed with no early-withdrawal penalty, or transferred as-is (same term and maturity) to a single Joint Owner's PSECU account. Certificates on accounts with multiple Joint Owners must be redeemed before transfer, again with no penalty
- Loans: PSECU staff review every loan. Its Agreements and Disclosures give PSECU a set-off right against any PSECU deposit account for debt owed by a depositor on the deceased borrower's records, so deposit funds can be used to pay the balance. With no Co-Borrower, all open lines of credit close on verification of death. A Visa authorized user may not keep using the card after the borrower's death
- Trust and business accounts: call (800) 237-7328, extension 3120 for account-specific instructions
- IRAs: call the IRA Department at (800) 237-7328, extension 3570
Required Documents
- Copy of the original death certificate (required in all cases)
- Original Pennsylvania Short Certificate (executor under a will) or original Letters of Administration (no will)
- Copy of the Authorized Party's driver's license or state/government-issued photo ID (required by Form 4980)
- Authorization to Close Decedent Account (Form 4980) — signed by the joint owner, executor, administrator, custodian, or all beneficiaries as applicable
- Copy of the paid funeral bill (PSECU states this may be requested)
- For an Estate Account (Form 2123): Short Certificate or Letters, copy of the death certificate, and the IRS letter assigning the estate's EIN
What to know at this institution
PSECU runs a named Decedent Department: (800) 237-7328 extension 3120, decedent@psecu.com, PSECU P.O. Box 67013, Harrisburg, PA 17106, Attn: Decedent Department. Pennsylvania calls the executor's authority a "Short Certificate" (the equivalent of Letters Testamentary elsewhere), issued by the county Register of Wills. Two Pennsylvania rules matter here. First, 20 Pa.C.S. section 3101(b) requires a credit union to pay out a deceased member's deposits — up to $20,000 total standing to the decedent's credit at that institution — to the spouse, a child, a parent, or a sibling (in that order of preference) on presentation of a receipted funeral bill or a funeral director's affidavit, with no Short Certificate at all; that is why PSECU says a copy of the paid funeral bill may be requested. Second, Pennsylvania inheritance tax reaches a non-spousal joint or POD account: the survivor is taxed on the decedent's fractional share (PA Department of Revenue REV-584), so a Tentative Trust payout avoids probate but not the tax. PSECU staff cannot give legal advice and direct questions about a Short Certificate or Letters of Administration to your attorney.
Prepare your letter of instruction to PSECU
PSECU asks for a letter of instruction alongside its claim form. We prepare a transmittal cover letter and the enclosure checklist PSECU requires.
Build your letter of instructionExpected timelines at PSECU: PSECU asks for up to 3 business days to close the account once it receives Form 4980. Getting to that point takes as long as the county Register of Wills takes to issue the Short Certificate or Letters, unless a surviving Joint Owner or a Tentative Trust beneficiary can act on the death certificate alone. Delays are almost always caused by incomplete paperwork—gathering all required documents before filing the initial claim helps avoid back-and-forth.
Documentation required by PSECU includes Copy of the original death certificate (required in all cases), Original Pennsylvania Short Certificate (executor under a will) or original Letters of Administration (no will), and Copy of the Authorized Party's driver's license or state/government-issued photo ID (required by Form 4980), along with additional paperwork that varies by account type. All death certificates and court documents must be certified copies.
Frequently asked questions
A Tentative Trust is PSECU's name for a payable-on-death designation. Per PSECU's Agreements and Disclosures it is revocable, you keep full control of the account and can still transact and borrow against it, you may name or change beneficiaries at any time (not only at account opening), and the beneficiaries have no authority over the account while you are alive. Open one with the Tentative Trust Membership Application (Form 2112), convert an existing PSECU account with Form 2818, or change the beneficiaries with Form 2819. A Living Trust account (Form 2114) is a different thing entirely: it is titled to the trustees of a formal trust agreement, the settlor must be a PSECU member, and PSECU is not authorized to act as trustee or to monitor the trustee. All forms are at https://www.psecu.com/forms
No. PSECU's decedent guide (Form 5007) is explicit: when the primary owner — the person whose Social Security number is used for tax reporting — dies, the joint account must be closed so IRS reporting is correct. As the surviving Joint Owner you may keep writing checks and accessing the Shares while you transition, but you have to move to an existing account or open your own PSECU membership. Certificates can be redeemed with no early-withdrawal penalty, or transferred as-is to a single Joint Owner's PSECU account. When a NON-primary owner dies, the account can stay open — call (800) 237-7328, extension 3838 to remove them.
Sometimes. Pennsylvania law (20 Pa.C.S. section 3101(b)) requires a credit union to pay a deceased member's deposits — up to $20,000 total standing to the decedent's credit at that institution — to the spouse, a child, a parent, or a sibling, in that order of preference, when a receipted funeral bill or a funeral director's affidavit is presented. That is the backdrop to PSECU's note in Form 5007 that a copy of the paid funeral bill may be requested. Above that amount, or where no qualifying relative presents a funeral bill, PSECU requires the original Short Certificate (executor) or Letters of Administration (administrator) from the county Register of Wills. PSECU will not accept a Power of Attorney — that authority ends at death — or an unexecuted will.
PSECU will not deposit a check payable to the decedent or to the estate into the decedent's existing account, so an estate account is how those checks get cashed. Call the Application Processing Department at (800) 237-7328, extension 3133 and file the Estate Account Membership Application (Form 2123). It requires the Short Certificate (Letters Testamentary or of Administration), a copy of the death certificate, and the IRS letter assigning the estate's EIN, and per PSECU's Agreements and Disclosures the decedent must have been eligible for PSECU membership. Once the estate account exists, Form 4980 lets you sweep the decedent's remaining balance straight into it. Note that a Tentative Trust payout avoids probate but not Pennsylvania inheritance tax — a non-spousal joint or POD account is taxed on the decedent's fractional share (PA Department of Revenue REV-584).
PSECU's Decedent Department can be reached by phone at 1-800-237-7328 ext. 3120 and email at decedent@psecu.com for questions throughout the claims process.
When the deceased had multiple PSECU accounts, some may need separate claims while others can be handled together. The Decedent Department can clarify what's needed for each account type.
Sources
Data sourced from PSECU primary sources (20 pages reviewed). How we research.
PSECU, P.O. Box 67013, Harrisburg, PA 17106-7013
Application Processing (Estate, Living Trust, and Tentative Trust accounts)
PSECU, P.O. Box 67009, Harrisburg, PA 17106-7009
Decedent Department
PSECU, P.O. Box 67013, Harrisburg, PA 17106, Attn: Decedent Department
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