How Do I Write a Letter of Instruction to MSUFCU?

Send it to MSUFCU's estate/claims department: MSUFCU ATTN: Specialty and Support Services, PO Box 1208, East Lansing, MI 48826-1208. You can reach the department at (517) 333-2424.

MSUFCU lists these among its required documents: Certified death certificate; Government-issued photo ID for the claimant (POD payee, joint owner, trustee, or personal representative); MSUFCU Affidavit of Beneficiary Accepting Designated Funds (POD payees claiming their share); Letters of Personal Representative from the Michigan probate court (no POD payee, trust, or joint owner). The prepared letter includes an enclosure checklist drawn from MSUFCU's recorded requirements.

MSUFCU does not publish a processing time. POD and joint-account claims move fastest because they need only the death certificate, ID, and the Affidavit of Beneficiary; estate claims wait on the probate court, since Letters of Personal Representative (or a PC 598 affidavit, which cannot be signed until 28 days after death) must exist before MSUFCU will release the funds. The clock that matters most on day one is Section 35's: MSUFCU may honor checks, payments, and transfers drawn by the member until 10 days after it learns of the death.

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