How Do I Write a Letter of Instruction to Trumark?

Send it to Trumark's estate/claims department: Trumark Credit Union, Attn: Member Service Center, 335 Commerce Drive, P.O. Box 8127, Fort Washington, PA 19034. You can reach the department at 215-953-5353.

Trumark lists these among its required documents: Certified copy of the death certificate; Government-issued photo ID for each beneficiary, executor, or trustee; Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration from the Pennsylvania Register of Wills (when the account has no POD designation or joint owner); Receipted funeral bill, or a licensed funeral director's affidavit that satisfactory payment arrangements have been made, to claim the 20 Pa.C.S. 3101(b) payout when the decedent's total at Trumark is $20,000 or less. The prepared letter includes an enclosure checklist drawn from Trumark's recorded requirements.

Joint accounts pass to the surviving owner under the account agreement. Trumark may still pay or certify checks drawn on or before the date of death for up to 10 days after death. POD, tentative trust, and IRA beneficiary accounts are typically processed within 5-10 business days after all documents are received. Accounts requiring Letters from the Register of Wills take as long as the county grants Letters. Pennsylvania inheritance tax is due nine months from the date of death, with a 5 percent discount for payment within three months.

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