What to do when an Union Bank (Vermont) account holder dies

On a joint account with survivorship, the money belongs to the surviving owners when one owner dies, subject to any pledge the bank agreed to.¹

A joint account opened without survivorship gives the other owners no right to an owner's share when that owner dies.¹

A pay-on-death beneficiary can withdraw only once 90 days have passed since the last owner died, if the beneficiary is alive and no personal representative or probate court has stopped payment within those 90 days.¹

Surviving pay-on-death beneficiaries take equal shares, and a share does not pass to the other beneficiaries.¹

When the last trustee of a revocable trust account dies, Union Bank may pay the account to the person it was held for, or to that person's estate.¹

The certificate of deposit disclosures say an early withdrawal penalty can be waived when an owner dies.²

An IRA with no beneficiary on file, or whose named beneficiaries have all died, is paid to the owner's estate.³

An HSA with no beneficiary on file, or whose named beneficiaries have all died, is paid to the owner's estate.⁴

Estates where Union Bank is named executor, and trust and investment accounts it manages^{5, 6}

Union Bank charges $5 for a statement copy and $3 for duplicate statements, and $25 an hour, with a $10 minimum, for account research.⁷

Union Bank provides medallion signature guarantees, including for moving securities to a court-appointed representative after an owner dies. The documents it lists include a copy of the death certificate and the court papers appointing the executor or administrator.⁸

Who qualifies: Free for customers of at least six months, by appointment

1-802-888-6600

Until it learns of a death and has time to act, the bank may keep honoring checks and instructions, and for up to ten days afterward it may pay checks written on or before the date of death unless someone with a claim to the account tells it to stop.¹

An authorized signer's authority on an individual account ends when the owner dies, though the bank may keep honoring the signer's transactions until it has notice and time to act.¹

If survivors or beneficiaries make competing claims to an account, the bank may hold the money until a court decides or it is shown the dispute is settled.¹

Union Bank may apply the money in an account to a due debt any owner owes it. That does not reach an IRA or a person who can withdraw only as a representative.¹

The deposit agreement is governed by federal law and the law of Vermont.¹

Responding to a levy, garnishment or other legal process costs at least $125, and moving an IRA to another institution costs $25.⁷

An account holding less than $100 with no activity for a year or more is charged $3 a month.⁷