What to do when a Town & Country FCU account holder dies
Report the death to Town & Country FCU at 1-800-649-3495
After a member of Town & Country FCU dies, Town & Country FCU 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.
To start a claim, contact Town & Country FCU by phone at 1-207-773-5656 or email documentation to info@tcfcu.com. You will need the account holder's full name, account numbers, and the death certificate.
Death claim process
Here is the step-by-step death claim process at Town & Country FCU:
Filing a claim
- Branches: 557 Main Street, South Portland (Main Office); 170 Ocean Street, South Portland; 426 Forest Avenue and 3 Auburn Street, Portland; 257 Route 1, Scarborough; 52 Elm Street, Saco.
- Branch hours are Monday through Wednesday 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM, Thursday 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM and Friday 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM. Branches are closed Saturday and Sunday.
- Appointments can be booked online.
What happens to each kind of account5
- Joint account with survivorship
A joint account in the default form is a joint tenancy with rights of survivorship. Payment to any owner, to the survivor(s), or to the personal representatives, administrators or assigns of the last survivor discharges the credit union.1
- Joint account without survivorship
On a Tenants-in-Common joint account, when one party dies, the remaining parties do not receive the benefit of or assets in the account.1
- Payable-on-death account
On a Revocable Trust or Pay-on-Death account, beneficiaries cannot withdraw until every person who created the account has died and the beneficiary is then living. Two or more surviving beneficiaries own it in equal shares, without right of survivorship.1
- Certificate of deposit
The early withdrawal penalty is 90 days of dividends. "At our option, we may pay the account before maturity without imposing an early withdrawal penalty" when an account owner dies or is determined legally incompetent by a court.2
- Debt protection, GAP or service contract
Loan Protection Plus is a voluntary loan payment protection product for consumer loans, home equity loans and credit card debt that cancels or reduces loan repayment when a protected life event occurs.3
State law on paying a balance without lettersMaine
- Maine
9-B M.R.S. § 427(8)(A)
Maine law permits a credit union to pay from a deceased member's balance on proof the institution accepts, without letters testamentary or letters of administration.9-B M.R.S. § 427(8)(A)Verified Oct 3, 2026View source
Limit: $1,000 per account
Paid to: the surviving spouse; next of kin; funeral director or other preferred creditor or creditors who may appear to be entitled to the deposit or account
The section permits the payment. It does not require the credit union to make it. The section sets further conditions.
What Town & Country FCU's agreement and guidance say6
- Payments after the death
The credit union may, after the date of death, pay share drafts drawn before death unless ordered to stop payment by the personal representative or another appropriate person claiming an interest in the account.1
An oral stop payment order stops binding the credit union after 14 days without written confirmation. A stop payment on a check expires after 6 months unless renewed in writing.1
- Debts owed to the institution
The credit union's lien on any deposit and any pledge of an account must first be satisfied before the rights of any surviving account owner or account beneficiary become effective.1
The credit union holds a statutory and consensual lien on the funds in any account in which a borrower has an ownership interest, and may apply them in any order to the debt. The consensual security interest does not apply to obligations secured by the member's residence.1
- Disputes between claimants
The credit union may require an account to be closed and a new account opened when there is a change in owners or authorized signers, or a dispute over ownership of the account or its funds. It may refuse to pay out while a legal action against the account is resolved.1
- Indemnity a claimant may have to give
The credit union may require an indemnity or bond before following instructions it believes might expose it to claims.1
- Fees
The fee schedule lists a stop payment fee of $25 per item.4
- Dormant and unclaimed accounts
The fee schedule lists an Inactive Account Fee of $5 per month and an Unclaimed Account Fee of $50.4
Not in Town & Country FCU's published guidance5
- A procedure for reporting a death
- A department for deceased-customer accounts
- A claim form
- A list of required documents
- How long a claim takes
Sources4
- 1.Membership Agreement (Form#MbrAgmt002 5/25)
- 2.Truth-in-Savings disclosure (Form#TIS002 4/25)
- 3.Insurance
- 4.Fee Schedule, as of January 1, 2026
Frequently asked questions
It may. The Membership Agreement clause "Payment of Checks after Death" (https://www.tcfcu.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/MbrAgmt-0525.pdf) says the credit union may, after the date of death, pay share drafts drawn before death unless it is ordered to stop payment by the Personal Representative or another appropriate person claiming an interest in the account. The clause states no time limit. A stop payment order must be dated, signed, and state the account number, draft number and exact amount; an oral order stops binding the credit union after 14 days without written confirmation. The fee schedule lists a $25 stop payment fee.
Yes. The Membership Agreement's "Pledges" clause states that the credit union's lien on any deposit, and any pledge of an account, must first be satisfied before the rights of any surviving account owner or account beneficiary become effective. The "Lien & Right of Offset/Enforcement" clause gives Town & Country a statutory and consensual lien on the funds in any account in which the borrower has an ownership interest, regardless of their source, applied in any order. The consensual security interest does not apply to obligations secured by the member's residence.
Only at its option. The Truth-in-Savings disclosure (https://www.tcfcu.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/TIS-0425.pdf) sets an early withdrawal penalty of 90 days of dividends, whether earned or not, which can reduce principal if dividends were already paid out. It lists the exceptions: "At our option, we may pay the account before maturity without imposing an early withdrawal penalty" when an account owner dies or is determined legally incompetent by a court or other body of competent jurisdiction.
It depends on which joint form the account uses. A standard joint account is a "joint tenancy with rights of survivorship": all sums are owned jointly with full right of survivorship, and payment to any survivor discharges the credit union. The Membership Agreement also describes "Joint Accounts (Tenants in Common Accounts)", owned by two or more parties where, on the death of one party, the remaining parties do not receive the benefit of or assets in the account.
Maine law provides an affidavit route. The Membership Agreement is governed by Maine law, and 18-C M.R.S. section 3-1201 (https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/18-C/title18-Csec3-1201.html) requires any person having possession of a decedent's personal property to deliver it to a claiming successor 30 days after the death, on presentation of an affidavit stating that the entire estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $40,000 (adjusted for inflation under section 1-108), that 30 days have elapsed, that no personal representative has been appointed or applied for, and that the successor is entitled to the property. PL 2025, c. 76 requires each county probate court to publish the adjusted value on its website each year.
Town & Country FCU can be reached by phone at 1-800-649-3495, email at info@tcfcu.com, and fax at 1-207-772-3624 for questions throughout the claims process.
Sources
(2)·
Data sourced from Town & Country FCU primary sources (30 pages reviewed). How we research.
Town & Country FCU death claims support
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