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Home >> Special Situations >> Deceased Individuals
Intestate: What Happens to Accounts?
In Tennessee, what is the policy on how small-sum personal bank accounts are handled after an account owner's death? The decedent died intestate, and the person who is trying to access the money is one of her three beneficiaries, who also had power to sign checks on her behalf.
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 There are two provisions in Tennessee law that might affect how those funds can be obtained.
- If the account owner's entire estate is valued at less than $25,000, the state's law on settlement of small estates, at Tennessee Code 30-4-101, might apply. You can get more information on the procedure and requirements from the court handling probate matters in the county in which the decedent last resided.
- If all that is needed is access to the funds in the bank accounts, the state's banking statutes provide depository institutions the option of paying out (after a waiting period) deposits aggregating no more than $10,000 to a creditor for funeral expenses or expenses of a last illness, a surviving spouse, or a next of kin (in that order if there are competing claims). Contact the bank, savings and loan association or credit union to find out whether it will pay out the accounts, and how to proceed. The statutes in question are Tennessee Code 45-2-708 (banking institutions), 45-3-514 (savings and loan associations), and 45-4-405 (credit unions).
Any authority to sign checks on her behalf ended with the account holder's death.
Published on BankingQuestions.com 5/26/09
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