How Do I Write a Letter of Instruction to PenFed?

Send it to PenFed's estate/claims department: Pentagon Federal Credit Union, Box 247009, Omaha, NE 68124-7009 (courier: 13220 Fort Street, Omaha, NE 68164). You can reach the department at 800-247-5626.

PenFed lists these among its required documents: Certified death certificate (PenFed advises obtaining 10-20 certified copies); Government-issued photo ID for the beneficiary, surviving joint owner, or personal representative — required for any non-member executor; Court-issued document appointing the executor / personal representative (Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration); IRS TIN assignment verification letter for the estate. The prepared letter includes an enclosure checklist drawn from PenFed's recorded requirements.

PenFed does not publish a settlement service level. Joint accounts with survivorship pass to the surviving owner under the account agreement; a beneficiary or estate claim runs on PenFed's document review, and PenFed warns that any missing form or document delays processing. Secure upload is the fastest of the three submission channels (upload, fax, mail).

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