Reclaim Pension, SS deposit when account frozen

[early-morning]

I read that you should keep the bank account of the deceased person open for 45 days after death so that if a pension or social security deposit needs to be reclaimed the pension or social security administrations can reach into the account and reclaim the money they just deposited.

However, once Fidelity is notified of my death they will freeze the cash management account. This is where the pension and social security are deposited.

If the pension or social security administration need to reclaim the deposit will they be able to do so?

Thanks

BB

 

[Tadpole]

When I went to Bank of America to have our joint accounts put into my name alone, they sent me home saying that I didn't want to take his name off of it too soon. I needed the bank to report to IRS in my name. Even though the account was joint BoA just put the first name and SS on the 1099s. The 2023 return was the first tax return I will issue as a single so, a couple of months ago I interfaced with their estate office and moved the accounts to just my name. It really did help to leave the direct deposit and bill pay account as joint for that year.

 

[njhowie]

So why would your representative handle the Fidelity account any different than a bank account? Just don't notify for 45 days if it's the intent to leave it open for that much longer.

 

[badatmath]

This is the first I have heard of the 45 day thing and most annoying as I will travel several states away to handle all these matters. I am certainly not staying gone 45 days and very adverse to making multiple trips. Hopefully I can do things online but it isn't good news.

 

[Koolau]

Does anyone know exactly which and what kinds of funds are frozen upon death of spouse? That would help with my "upon my death" book I'm putting together for DW. Thanks.

 

[RetireBy90]

I know mom had a credit union checking account that was joint with my sister. No freeze on that account. It would make sense if a sole account owner died to freeze but not a joint account. Mom's SS and pension were direct deposit to that account and I send certificate to both within a week of passing. (I was in town just for her passing and to process the details of her estate.) The account ownership was transferred to my sister after paying final bills. I'll have to check with my bank and credit unions to verify they handle it the same way. There may be general best practices and all but my experience with dad and mom's accounts each bank did things with some differences. Best to verify with that bank. IMHO

 

[VanWinkle]

Does anyone know exactly which and what kinds of funds are frozen upon death of spouse? That would help with my "upon my death" book I'm putting together for DW. Thanks.

We had joint checking, savings, and brokerage at Vanguard when DW passed in 2019. The bank accounts were never frozen as they were joint accounts, and Vanguard made the transition easy. The brokerage was never frozen, but I supplied the Death certificate for them to move the money to a single account and move her Roth money into a merged account with mine. It was not complicated at all, and Vanguard was great to work with.

VW

 

[Koolau]

We had joint checking, savings, and brokerage at Vanguard when DW passed in 2019. The bank accounts were never frozen as they were joint accounts, and Vanguard made the transition easy. The brokerage was never frozen, but I supplied the Death certificate for them to move the money to a single account and move her Roth money into a merged account with mine. It was not complicated at all, and Vanguard was great to work with.

VW

Thanks for the update. Most of my and DW's MF stuff (Roths and taxable) is at Vanguard. Good to hear the transition should be easy. Much aloha.

 

[badatmath]

With apologies for derailing - How hard is it to get utilities shut off for another person? There will be no probate as it will be small estate. I will be executor but person in question rents and LL will need them switched to new tenant ASAP. If no one here sees this I may post a new thread.

 

[Backpacker]

My DW went through this for her uncle about one year ago. No problem at all making changes to cable, or utilities. Suspect they were just happy to not have a potentially uncollectable bill keep increasing. So many different companies though, I'm not sure all would be so easy. If they fuss I'd just tell them he died broke and not sure if/when they'll get paid.

 

[Sunset]

With apologies for derailing - How hard is it to get utilities shut off for another person? There will be no probate as it will be small estate. I will be executor but person in question rents and LL will need them switched to new tenant ASAP. If no one here sees this I may post a new thread.

It will probably be very easy, especially as you may be telling them to switch them to the LL, as who knows when a new tenant will be there.
Utilities probably have to be paid by the estate, until the lease is terminated, but you can cut off the cable/internet & phone immediately.
Once you know the lease termination date, call in advance to cut off the services or transfer them to LL on that date.

 

[ncbill]

I've never had a joint account frozen either.

I still have one with mom as joint owner and she died over a decade ago.

 

[CRLLS]

I've never had a joint account frozen either.

I still have one with mom as joint owner and she died over a decade ago.

As a joint owner, you can remove your mom from the account. You can even add a new joint owner. This is what happened when SIL had been listed as joint owner with MIL and MIL passed. She then removed MIL's name and added DW's name to protect the account until the $$ could be distributed. I'm not sure if a Death Cert was required to remove MIL from the account or not. It was a couple of years back.

 

[badatmath]

Thanks for the info on utilities somewhere I heard you had to provide death certs and wait for probate - but there will not be probate as small estate and it won't be required - plus the LL will need to rent the place - IDK I expect a lot of things will go wrong but thankfully I don't have to worry about it today.

 

[Buckeye]

I know mom had a credit union checking account that was joint with my sister. No freeze on that account. It would make sense if a sole account owner died to freeze but not a joint account. Mom's SS and pension were direct deposit to that account and I send certificate to both within a week of passing. (I was in town just for her passing and to process the details of her estate.) The account ownership was transferred to my sister after paying final bills. I'll have to check with my bank and credit unions to verify they handle it the same way. There may be general best practices and all but my experience with dad and mom's accounts each bank did things with some differences. Best to verify with that bank. IMHO

I had a joint account with my mom at Chase. They froze it until I went to the bank and asked what the heck they were doing. They unfroze it.