Upon death, Bank refuses to acknowledge the listed IRA beneficiaries
My mother passed away last September at the age of 93 and one bank where she had two IRAs refuses to acknowledge her beneficiary designations. Specifically to prevent this issue from arising, I went with my mother every year to confirm that beneficiaries were listed on both IRA accounts. We saw and confirmed the beneficiaries on their computer screen. But now that she has passed away, the bank says they need the original paperwork in order to transfer the funds to an Inherited IRA. They say they can no longer find their original paperwork (which has gone through two bank mergers). The banker in the local branch confirms that she has met with my mother several times and has seen the beneficiaries listed online, but the back office refuses to transfer the funds unless we can provide the original paperwork from many years ago. How do I proceed when the bank (acting as the fiduciary agent) will not agree to recognize the beneficiary designations in their own computer systems?
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Sun, 2022-07-24 04:35
Permalink Submitted by Wendy Louttit on Sun, 2022-07-24 20:01
I like your line of reasoning, that anything in their computer that has been confirmed in the last year or so is much more likely to be up-to-date than papers from many years ago. I was hoping not to have to get a lawyer involved, but maybe that is the way to go at this point. Thank you.!!
Permalink Submitted by Dan Zaehring on Tue, 2022-07-26 18:15
Sounds like the back office was looking for an easier way to accertain the beneficiaries than to have to go back into their backup records to find them. Perhaps just your threat of engaging legal help would tilt that equation in your favor.
Permalink Submitted by Bruce Steiner on Tue, 2022-08-02 22:30