Deceased account processing that settles the whole relationship at once, every account paid to the right person by its titling
Estates settled in days, every account paid to the right person by its titling.
See one case, screen by screen ↓Deceased Account Processing is software for deposit operations at banks and credit unions that takes a death notice to a settled estate: verify the death, freeze only what must be frozen, hold what Treasury will reclaim, and pay out each account by its titling. Six agents verify, read every signature card and beneficiary form, hold and check, and a second agent derives every disposition again on its own. A specialist approves the plan, and a Deposit Operations Officer checks and releases every payout.
AI use cases in banking: a buyer's guide to agentic AI for bank and credit union operations →
Updated
When a member dies, every account goes somewhere different. A joint checking passes to the surviving owner, a share certificate to the beneficiaries on its payable-on-death form, a sole savings to the estate under a small-estate affidavit whose limit depends on the state and the date of death, and a Social Security payment for the month of death goes back to the U.S. Treasury. Today a specialist pulls each signature card and beneficiary form from document imaging, some of them decades old, reads the titling, looks up the state rule and types the letters, one account at a time.
The losses sit in the gaps. A replaced beneficiary form or an old in-trust-for card read as sole ownership pays the wrong person, and the credit union pays twice. A federal benefit credited after the death and withdrawn before anyone held it is reclaimed from the institution under 31 CFR 210. A notice from a neighbor, or a father and son with the same name, freezes a living member; a freeze on the wrong account locks a surviving joint owner out of her own checking. And grieving families are asked for the same certificate again and again.
Estimated split for one estate at the demo credit union (260 notices a month, about 3.4 accounts each), by hand and with the solution, including the days spent waiting on the family.
Six agents verify the death, read every card, hold what Treasury will reclaim and check every payee; a second agent derives it all again.
Harold J. Ivers, a member of Norrell Federal Credit Union since 1988, died at home in Aurora, Illinois, on September 28, 2026. He left a joint checking account with his wife Marion, a $25,000.00 share certificate with two beneficiaries, a sole share savings, an auto loan and a Social Security payment for the month he died. Here is estate EST-2026-1184, screen by screen, in the working solution.
Marion Ivers calls the contact center: the moment the credit union first knew, recorded for Treasury. At 10:31 Harold's debit card is canceled, his sole savings frozen for withdrawals and his digital sign-in closed, each change proposed by Renée and approved by Martin Oyelaran. The joint checking stays open, because Marion is a surviving owner.
“Joint checking ending 2210 — not frozen”
The Social Security death notification arrives on the ACH network. The Benefits agent lists every movement since September 28 and finds the $2,104.00 credit of October 2: the September benefit, paid a month in arrears, which Treasury will reclaim. It proposes a hold, approved at 09:05, and drafts the certification with the knowledge date and the one withdrawer after death, Marion, $200.00 at an ATM on October 4.
Recurring payments on Harold's own accounts and card are stopped; the utility autopay on the joint checking stays, at Marion's request.
At the Fox Valley branch, Tom uploads the certified death certificate and Marion's Illinois small-estate affidavit; he sees what is on file, never a balance. The agents run from 16:02 to 16:07. The Verification agent compares the member record, the certificate and the federal notification field by field and agrees at 99%; the Ownership agent reads four accounts by titling at 98%; the Benefits agent confirms the hold at 97%.
Each panel shows the agent's plan, the documents it cited, its confidence and who it handed to. Any finding can be rejected with a reason.
Harold sits at the center: $41,396.30 on deposit. Five spokes, each with its amount, one plain sentence and a status chip: joint checking $4,880.12 to Marion by survivorship; the certificate split 50/50 to Daniel Ivers and Laura Ivers Benning; the sole savings $9,412.18 to the estate under the affidavit; the auto loan $8,317.46 to collections with its payoff letter; and the $2,104.00 credit held for Treasury.
“Disposition Checker agrees on 5 of 5”
Renée taps the joint checking spoke. The 2004 signature card opens beside the wheel with the deciding words highlighted: both names, and the box for joint with right of survivorship. The Ownership agent is 99% confident and the Disposition Checker agrees on its own reading. The account is retitled to Marion as sole owner; Harold's debit card is canceled while Marion's keeps working.
The share savings has one owner and no payable-on-death beneficiary on its 1988 card. The affidavit declares $38,600 of personal property, under the $150,000 Illinois limit the rules hold for a death on September 28, 2026, and the will names Marion sole legatee. So the $9,412.18 is paid to her as affiant, under 755 ILCS 5/25-1, and the Disposition Checker reaches the same answer.
The Social Security spoke explains itself: paid for September, the month of death, so Treasury will reclaim it. The money stays held in the joint checking until the notice of reclamation arrives, then goes back in full. Because the credit settled before the credit union knew, on October 6, its liability is limited and no one in the family is asked to repay.
The disposition plan lists five lines, each with its titling, source document, payee, amount, the Ownership agent's confidence and the checker's result. Totals tie out: $14,292.30 to Marion, $12,500.00 each to Daniel and Laura, $2,104.00 held, a loan claim of $8,317.46. Renée approves with reason PLN-01 and signs. The supervisor is not needed, because the checker agreed on every line.
On the payouts, Renée sees: “You prepared these payouts, so you cannot release them.”
Martin sees each payee with its evidence. Laura is a member since 2009 and is paid to her savings. Daniel is not a member: his driver's license matches the 2025 designation, Renée called him back on the number on that form, and the sanctions screen is clear, so he is paid by ACH to a validated account. Martin releases all four payouts and they post to the general ledger.
Renée is the family's one contact. The death certificate, the affidavit, the will and Daniel's identity check are on file and never asked for again. The Letter writer drafts three bereavement letters from approved templates; Daniel's names only his own share, $12,500.00, thanks him for confirming by phone on October 21 and asks for nothing more. Martin approves and sends all three.
“Names only Daniel's share”
The same estate, seen by the four people it passes through: what their week looked like, and what it looks like now.
Six agents verify the death, read every card, hold what Treasury will reclaim and check every payee; a second agent derives it all again.
Matches each death notice to a member on name, date of birth and the last four of the SSN, compares the certified death certificate with the Social Security death notification, records the date the credit union first knew, and proposes only the freezes the titling allows.
Reads every signature card and beneficiary designation from document imaging and decides where each account goes by its titling: survivorship, payable on death, in trust for, IRA beneficiary, sole ownership or loan, in one plain sentence that cites the passage.
Lists every credit and debit since the date of death, finds federal benefit credits for the month of death or later and proposes a hold, stops recurring payments on the member's sole accounts and cards, and drafts the Treasury certification with the knowledge date and every withdrawer after death.
Checks the letters testamentary, letters of administration or small-estate affidavit against the state limit and waiting period in force on the date of death, verifies each payee's identity, screens sanctions and prepares each payout with its method.
Reads the cards, forms, affidavit and rules again from the start, derives each account's payee and amount on its own, then compares with the other agents, account by account.
Drafts one bereavement letter per person from approved templates, names only that reader's accounts and amounts, and lists what is already on file so no one is asked twice.
Approves the plan; the Deposit Operations Officer releases each payout. The agents propose; a named person decides.
Ask why an account goes where it goes, what Treasury will take back, which cases are late, or ask for a letter. Every answer points to its card, form or rule.
Why does the savings account go to the estate?
Because Harold owned it alone and named no beneficiary. The 1988 signature card shows individual ownership, no joint owner and no payable-on-death beneficiary. Marion's affidavit declares $38,600 of personal property, under the Illinois limit of $150,000 in force for a death on September 28, 2026, and the will names her sole legatee. So the $9,412.18 is paid to her as affiant. The Disposition Checker reached the same answer on its own.
Will Treasury take back the October 2 payment?
Yes, and it is already held. The $2,104.00 that settled on October 2 is Harold's September benefit. Social Security pays a month in arrears and pays nothing for the month of death, so Treasury will send a notice of reclamation. Because the credit union first knew on October 6, after the credit, limited liability applies. The certification is drafted with the one withdrawer after death: Marion Ivers, $200.00 on October 4.
Which cases could miss the 30-day target?
Three: EST-2026-1168, Samuel D. Greer, day 28, with the Treasury answer due November 2; EST-2026-1171, Evelyn R. Marsh, day 27, with the supervisor; and EST-2026-1175, Margaret H. Doyle, day 24, with a retitle waiting for the officer. The cases are filtered to them.
Draft the letter to Daniel Ivers
Drafted from template BER-05 v1.4, for a beneficiary who is not a member. It tells Daniel only his own share, $12,500.00, thanks him for the call-back on October 21, and asks for nothing he has already given. It names no other person's account or balance. Martin Oyelaran approves it before it is mailed.
13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.
Thresholds, clocks and approvals are settings. Every change is proposed, approved by a named person and versioned, and state small-estate limits are kept by date of death with their statute.
| Setting | Default | Choose from |
|---|---|---|
| Fields that must agree to verify a death | All four: name, date of birth, SSN last four, date of death | All four · Name, date of birth and date of death |
| Confidence needed to open a case | 95% | 90% · 95% · 98%; below it, a person reads the notice |
| A person reads the card when the Ownership agent is below | 90% | 85% · 90% · 95%; every card before 1990 is read by a person anyway |
| Call-back to the number on the form for payees who are not members | On, before any payout | On · Off |
| Payout above which the supervisor also signs | $100,000 | $50,000 · $100,000 · $250,000 |
| Hold every federal credit for the month of death or later | On, until the notice of reclamation | On · Off |
| Freeze and stop, after a verified notice | 1 business day | 1 business day · 2 business days |
| Settled, from the notice | 30 days; warn at day 20, supervisor at day 25 | 30 days · 45 days |
Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.
“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample estate · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate for the demo credit union's design volumes (260 notices a month, about 3.4 accounts each) · “typical” = published figures and rules (about 3 million deaths a year in the United States, from the solution’s market research; 31 CFR 210.10 and 210.11 on post-death federal benefit payments, limited liability and the certification; SSA POMS GN 02408.635 on the 60-day follow-up; Social Security pays a month in arrears and nothing for the month of death). State small-estate limits shown are the sample rules in the working solution, each to be confirmed against its statute. People, credit unions, members, accounts and addresses named on this page are fictional — characters and sample data in the working solution.
Deceased Account Processing is software for deposit operations at banks and credit unions that takes a death notice to a settled estate: verify the death, freeze only what must be frozen, hold what Treasury will reclaim, and pay out each account by its titling. Six agents verify, read every signature card and beneficiary form, hold and check, and a second agent derives every disposition again on its own. A specialist approves the plan, and a Deposit Operations Officer checks and releases every payout.
At a credit union or bank, it depends on how each account is titled. The Ownership agent reads the signature card or beneficiary form and writes one sentence per account: a joint account with right of survivorship passes to the survivor, a payable on death account to its named beneficiaries, a sole account to the estate under letters or a small-estate affidavit, and a loan becomes a claim against the estate. Each sentence opens the card that decides it.
Social Security pays a month in arrears and nothing for the month of death, so a payment for that month is reclaimed by Treasury under 31 CFR 210. The Benefits agent lists every credit since the date of death, proposes a hold the day the death is known, and drafts the certification with the date the institution first knew and everyone who withdrew after the death. Every hold carries two names, and no money goes back without the officer.
With right of survivorship, it passes to the surviving owner and is not frozen. The Verification agent proposes only the freezes the titling allows: the deceased member's card, sole accounts and digital sign-in. A surviving joint owner keeps the joint checking and their own card, and every freeze carries the names of the person who proposed it and the person who approved it. Nothing is frozen on an unproved notice.
The Payout agent checks the affidavit against the state's small-estate limit and waiting period in force on the date of death, with the statute cited. The rules are kept by state and date of death, each with a version and a verification date, and change only through an approved, versioned rule. When a waiting period applies, the payout waits for its first lawful day.
Yes. The agents propose, explain and cite; they never freeze, pay, retitle, send a letter or decide a disagreement. The specialist approves the plan with a reason code and a signature, a Deposit Operations Officer releases each payout, and the specialist cannot release her own. Disagreements between the agents go to the supervisor.
Yes. The fields that must agree to verify a death, confidence thresholds, call-backs, sanctions screening, the payout amount that also needs the supervisor, benefit holds, and the freeze, plan, settlement and reclamation clocks are all settings. Every change is proposed, approved by a named person and versioned.
The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents, such as your estate procedures, account agreements, bereavement letter templates and a sample of settled cases, and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will walk you through it on your own estates first.
Every dormant account dated from real owner contact, and every letter inside its window.
1-min demoAccount Maintenance RequestsEvery change checked twice, and takeovers stopped before the record moves.
1-min demoTreasury ReclamationEvery reclamation answered on time, and the bank pays only what it owes.
1-min demoWe'll run Deceased Account Processing on a sample of your own settled estate cases.