How Do I Write a Letter of Instruction to Independent Financial?

Send it to Independent Financial's estate/claims department: SouthState Bank, ATTN: Inquiries, PO Box 118068, Charleston, SC 29423. You can reach the department at 1-800-277-2175.

Independent Financial's recorded process does not require the letter itself to be notarized. Some enclosed documents (such as a small estate affidavit) may still need notarization.

Independent Financial lists these among its required documents: Certified copy of the death certificate; Government-issued photo ID for the claimant; Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (no POD beneficiary, joint owner, or trust); Texas or Colorado small estate affidavit (if the estate qualifies). The prepared letter includes an enclosure checklist drawn from Independent Financial's recorded requirements.

Surviving joint owners and POD beneficiaries are generally paid once the branch verifies the death certificate and identity documents. Estate accounts wait on Letters or a qualifying small estate affidavit. Two clock rules from the deposit agreement matter: SouthState may pay checks drawn on or before the date of death for up to 10 calendar days afterward unless told to stop, and benefit direct deposits (such as Social Security) may be reversed after the death.

Independent Financial accepts a letter you write. We draft it for you, addressed to Independent Financial'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.