What to do when a SDCCU account holder dies
Report the death to SDCCU at 1-877-732-2848
SDCCU coordinates account transitions after a member's death. How each account is handled depends on its setup: POD and trust accounts transfer automatically, while solely-owned accounts typically require court authorization through Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
The claim process begins with a phone call to the institution. Have the account holder's full name, account numbers, and the death certificate available when making initial contact.
Death claim process
To file a claim after an account holder's death, here is what SDCCU requires:
Filing a claim
Required Documents
- Court order appointing the executor, administrator or conservator, to open or maintain an account in a fiduciary capacity
What happens to each kind of account6
- Joint account with survivorship
On the death of any owner of a joint account, ownership passes to the survivor or survivors.1
- Payable-on-death account
On a payable-on-death account with a single party, ownership passes to the named pay-on-death beneficiary. With multiple parties, ownership passes to the survivor or survivors, then to the named pay-on-death beneficiary on the death of all of them.1
- Trust account
SDCCU abides by the terms of any separate agreement which clearly pertains to the account and which was filed with it.1
- Fiduciary account
Accounts may be opened and maintained by executors, administrators or conservators under court orders. SDCCU abides by the terms of any separate agreement which clearly pertains to the account and which was filed with it.1
- Credit card
SDCCU Payment Protection, a debt cancellation program and not insurance, pays the balance of an SDCCU Visa credit card in full, up to $50,000, on the member's death when the Death/Terminal Illness coverage was selected. Credit card enrollment is available at any time.2
- Loan
SDCCU Payment Protection, a debt cancellation program and not insurance, pays the balance of an auto, motorcycle or signature loan in full, up to $50,000, on the member's death when the Death/Terminal Illness coverage was selected. Enrollment on these loans must occur at loan funding.2
What SDCCU's agreement and guidance say2
- Telling the institution
SDCCU's Account Disclosures require prompt notice if any person with a right to withdraw funds from an account dies.1
- Payments after the death
SDCCU may keep honoring the decedent's 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 in the account orders payment stopped.1
Not in SDCCU's published guidance1
- A claim form
Sources2
- 1.Account Disclosures, effective July 1, 2026
- 2.Consumer Loan Payment Protection
Sources
Data sourced from SDCCU primary sources (19 pages reviewed). How we research.
SDCCU death claims support
Member Services (Call Center)
Phone
From outside the U.S.
Hours
Mailing address
Website
Death notifications go through general customer service.
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