deposit phone home

February 8, 2008 4:01 PM

How can I figure out where a deposit in a deceased person's bank account is coming from?

I'm working on the estate of a deceased parent. Everything has been going swimmingly until I was canceling a bank account. It was pointed out to me that a regular deposit was being made each month for x amount of dollars and it might be a good idea to find out who was doing it. This was said just as the account was being closed irrevocably.

I was also told the bank could not figure out where the deposit came from beyond what was on the deposit listing. There are three letters... 'RPS' ...and the words 'principal principal' and some numbers.

I hope that eventually some paperwork will come my way that will explain this. Is the bank just avoiding the question? Should I make a stink, give up, hire a detective?

It seems like it would be a pension payment. I don't have any paperwork referring to a pension or RPS in the deceased parent's files.

Thanks for any tips.

posted by D-ten to grab bag (5 comments total)

The bank should know this. Not the teller necessarily, but someone. If it's an electronic ACH deposit, like many pensions or annuities, then there is a massive list somewhere in the bank's administrative offices that will give the Trace number for where the deposit is coming from. They can then look up the company's contact information through the Federal Reserve.

Asking the teller to contact someone in the ACH or Electronic banking department may get the ball rolling. Or just talking to a different teller. I get dozens of these requests for phone numbers everyday in the bank that I work at, which has about 150 branches. It really is one of the easiest, simplest things I do at my job each day. Too bad you probably don't bank with us.

It's also likely the the person making the deposit will eventually realize that your parent is deceased. At which time they will contact the bank and ask for any money that has been deposited since the date of death.
posted by saffry at 4:56 PM on February 8, 2008

Looking up RPS on the Acronym Finder returned 61 possibilities, including:

Repetitive Payment System (insurance)
Railways Pension Scheme (UK)
Remittance Processing System

I vote for the first one as being likely. But contacting (a knowledgeable person at) the bank should clear this up.
posted by exphysicist345 at 7:16 PM on February 8, 2008

RPS is also a frequent abbreviation for Retirement and Pension System. You might be able to contact the IRS for an employment / tax history.
posted by slavlin at 9:14 PM on February 8, 2008

If this is taxable income, it is probably listed on last years tax return. Also, You should be getting a W-2 for this any day if it hasn't arrived already.
posted by Daddy-O at 2:52 PM on February 9, 2008

Okay, thanks for the replies. That's very helpful.
posted by D-ten at 2:54 PM on February 9, 2008