How Do I Write a Letter of Instruction to Heritage Bank?

Send it to Heritage Bank's estate/claims department: 701 N Haven Ave, Ontario, CA 91764. You can reach the department at (888) 228-2265.

Heritage Bank lists these among its required documents: Certified death certificate (at least one original per institution); Government-issued photo ID for the beneficiary, surviving joint owner, successor trustee, or personal representative; Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (individually titled account with no POD and no surviving joint owner); California Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property under Prob. Code sections 13100-13101 (estates at or under $208,850, no sooner than 40 days after death). The prepared letter includes an enclosure checklist drawn from Heritage Bank's recorded requirements.

POD and joint survivorship accounts generally release within days of complete documentation. The California small-estate affidavit cannot be presented until 40 days after the date of death (Cal. Prob. Code section 13100). Accounts that require Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration wait on the California Superior Court hearing calendar, which commonly runs 2 to 4 months from petition to Letters. Business-entity accounts wait on the entity's own successor documentation plus the refreshed beneficial-ownership certification.

Heritage Bank accepts a letter you write. We draft it for you, addressed to Heritage Bank's verified claims department with the required enclosures.

It depends on the capacity you are acting in. An executor or administrator encloses Letters Testamentary (when there is a will) or Letters of Administration (when there is not); a successor trustee encloses a certificate of trust; a successor under a small estate encloses that state’s small estate affidavit. The prepared letter lists the proof-of-authority document for your role alongside the institution’s required documents.

A letter of instruction is the written request an institution asks for when settling a deceased customer’s account. It identifies the decedent and the account, states the capacity you are acting in, and tells the institution what to do with the account.