How do I transfer funds and close bank accounts in another state?
July 24, 2024 2:46 PM Subscribe
I need to close a relative's bank accounts on the east coast and transfer the money to his new accounts on the west coast of the US. Difficulty level: he has no idea how much money is in them and can't access any online tools.
I have a senior family member who I have just helped move across the country from rural North Carolina to Oregon, where I live. He has some previous fairly severe mental health issues and now says he has an Alzheimer's diagnosis as well.
The move all happened rather quickly. I flew to NC for three days in May and at that time I went to the bank with him and met a staff person who clearly knew him well. At the bank – this is a largish regional bank with offices in 15 East coast states - I looked at his accounts and saw he had a not enormous but relatively substantial amount distributed among four accounts: a checking, savings, money market and a Roth IRA. I asked then about closing these accounts in the future, when he had established an account in Oregon. She said it would not be a problem to do it in the future.
It is a problem.
Directly before the move, he wired me some money which I deposited in an account I created for him but that was in my name. I used that to pay a deposit on an apartment for him, internet access, that sort of thing. When he got here, he brought a lot of cash with him – he is in the terrible habit of walking around with hundreds of dollars in cash and I would like that to end, but that’s another AskMe. Anyway, we deposited that cash in another account that he created. This is all at the credit union where I have banked for years. That money will keep him going for a bit, but not forever.
We need to close all his NC accounts and transfer that money to the Oregon credit union. I have tried calling the NC bank. The woman I spoke to while I was there with him will not return my calls. I mean I have left like 10 messages. OK, I escalated to a vice president. He said, sure, no problem, my relative would just have to write a check to the new bank. That would be fine if we knew the balances AND if all the accounts had checks. The VP said, well, he can find out the balances with the mobile app but until he does that, there’s nothing we can do.
He can’t use the mobile app. He tried and I tried but it looks like he originally set it up under a different phone number and there doesn’t seem to be any way to get it to work. He has no memory of any old phone numbers. We tried the phone teller and no, that won’t work either. He got confused and upset during this process – understandably! - so I’d like to minimize the time we spend on it going forward. Meanwhile, his mail is being forwarded to my address, but somehow there have not been any bank statements, so I have no idea what his accounts look like. He has a checkbook, so we have one account number.
As of Friday, I will have power of attorney for him. What can I do after that to close these accounts? I can set up a zoom to prove it’s him, I can send copies of his ID, I can send copies of the POA – how do I make this happen? I really, really do not want to fly to North Carolina – there must be some other way to do this?
I have a senior family member who I have just helped move across the country from rural North Carolina to Oregon, where I live. He has some previous fairly severe mental health issues and now says he has an Alzheimer's diagnosis as well.
The move all happened rather quickly. I flew to NC for three days in May and at that time I went to the bank with him and met a staff person who clearly knew him well. At the bank – this is a largish regional bank with offices in 15 East coast states - I looked at his accounts and saw he had a not enormous but relatively substantial amount distributed among four accounts: a checking, savings, money market and a Roth IRA. I asked then about closing these accounts in the future, when he had established an account in Oregon. She said it would not be a problem to do it in the future.
It is a problem.
Directly before the move, he wired me some money which I deposited in an account I created for him but that was in my name. I used that to pay a deposit on an apartment for him, internet access, that sort of thing. When he got here, he brought a lot of cash with him – he is in the terrible habit of walking around with hundreds of dollars in cash and I would like that to end, but that’s another AskMe. Anyway, we deposited that cash in another account that he created. This is all at the credit union where I have banked for years. That money will keep him going for a bit, but not forever.
We need to close all his NC accounts and transfer that money to the Oregon credit union. I have tried calling the NC bank. The woman I spoke to while I was there with him will not return my calls. I mean I have left like 10 messages. OK, I escalated to a vice president. He said, sure, no problem, my relative would just have to write a check to the new bank. That would be fine if we knew the balances AND if all the accounts had checks. The VP said, well, he can find out the balances with the mobile app but until he does that, there’s nothing we can do.
He can’t use the mobile app. He tried and I tried but it looks like he originally set it up under a different phone number and there doesn’t seem to be any way to get it to work. He has no memory of any old phone numbers. We tried the phone teller and no, that won’t work either. He got confused and upset during this process – understandably! - so I’d like to minimize the time we spend on it going forward. Meanwhile, his mail is being forwarded to my address, but somehow there have not been any bank statements, so I have no idea what his accounts look like. He has a checkbook, so we have one account number.
As of Friday, I will have power of attorney for him. What can I do after that to close these accounts? I can set up a zoom to prove it’s him, I can send copies of his ID, I can send copies of the POA – how do I make this happen? I really, really do not want to fly to North Carolina – there must be some other way to do this?
Do they have a regular-old-web-interface, and is there any chance of setting up online banking through that rather than through the app?
Another idea: do they have a legacy bank-by-phone option that would let you transfer all funds from the other accounts into the one account that you can write checks on? (You may also be able to do this in a conversation with a human.)
(Part of the reason they're being so unhelpful is that banks typically incentivize their branches to retain assets. The branch manager may be resisting zeroing out the accounts because it'll affect his or her paycheck, which sucks.)
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 2:55 PM on July 24 [3 favorites]
Another idea: do they have a legacy bank-by-phone option that would let you transfer all funds from the other accounts into the one account that you can write checks on? (You may also be able to do this in a conversation with a human.)
(Part of the reason they're being so unhelpful is that banks typically incentivize their branches to retain assets. The branch manager may be resisting zeroing out the accounts because it'll affect his or her paycheck, which sucks.)
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 2:55 PM on July 24 [3 favorites]
You opened a checking account at the local credit union; could you open a savings account, money market, and Roth IRA there? Duplicating the accounts at the credit union is easiest at this stage.
Once you have power of attorney, you'll electronically transfer each balance to its new Oregon home, and then decide the next steps. Have a rep at the *credit union* help with the NC bank.
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:03 PM on July 24 [1 favorite]
Once you have power of attorney, you'll electronically transfer each balance to its new Oregon home, and then decide the next steps. Have a rep at the *credit union* help with the NC bank.
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:03 PM on July 24 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Write to them, a letter, on paper. Make it recorded delivery so they can’t say they didn’t get it. Include PoA details.
Direct the letter to the woman who is not returning calls. Copy the VP.
Explain that as discussed in May, relative has now moved. You’d like to close all his accounts and have the funds transferred to your relative’s new account at xx. Provide the IBAN or bank account and sort code type details. If they can’t transfer ask them to send a cheque.
Provide a phone number where they can reach you if they require further information.
posted by koahiatamadl at 3:27 PM on July 24 [10 favorites]
Direct the letter to the woman who is not returning calls. Copy the VP.
Explain that as discussed in May, relative has now moved. You’d like to close all his accounts and have the funds transferred to your relative’s new account at xx. Provide the IBAN or bank account and sort code type details. If they can’t transfer ask them to send a cheque.
Provide a phone number where they can reach you if they require further information.
posted by koahiatamadl at 3:27 PM on July 24 [10 favorites]
Unfortunately banks are often not equipped to do certain kinds of business remotely. If bank folks are well trained they're very wary of anyone possibly taking advantage of a vulnerable old person, and if they're not they're probably unhelpful because they don't know stuff. Which would look the same to you, unfortunately!
Some ideas:
1) Can you use online resources like background checks to find his old phone numbers?
2) Is there a closer state where you can visit a branch of the NC bank and do this in person?
3) Could you give someone in one of those states power of attorney for these purposes? (Possibly hiring an attorney?)
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 3:32 PM on July 24
Some ideas:
1) Can you use online resources like background checks to find his old phone numbers?
2) Is there a closer state where you can visit a branch of the NC bank and do this in person?
3) Could you give someone in one of those states power of attorney for these purposes? (Possibly hiring an attorney?)
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 3:32 PM on July 24
Best answer: Bank statements often don't get forwarded even if there is a mail forwarding order. They get returned to the bank instead. (This is for security.)
At the (small local) bank I work at, in this situation if you did not have POA you'd want your relative to mail an address change form (signed by your relative) or even just a signed letter (signed by your relative) telling them to update his address and phone number and email address. After that was done he'd have an easier time getting in to the online banking because he could get verification texts/automated calls at a phone number you and he actually have access to. You could also, as mentioned above, try to get into his online banking on a computer in the web browser - that may not require the verification texts.
But you do have POA now [or will imminently.] It is possible that they have been so unresponsive up until now because you don't have POA. You are kind of no one legally to them until you have POA and they have seen and processed the documentation. If the person you have been trying to speak to at the branch you went to isn't helpful even once you tell them you have POA that you would like to send them documentation of so you can access his accounts, try calling a totally different branch and just asking about the bank procedure in this situation: I live out of state and I have power of attorney for a relative who banks with you and I need to be able to access his money to pay for his expenses, how do I proceed? It shouldn't necessarily need to be done at the branch he went to regularly.
posted by needs more cowbell at 3:37 PM on July 24 [10 favorites]
At the (small local) bank I work at, in this situation if you did not have POA you'd want your relative to mail an address change form (signed by your relative) or even just a signed letter (signed by your relative) telling them to update his address and phone number and email address. After that was done he'd have an easier time getting in to the online banking because he could get verification texts/automated calls at a phone number you and he actually have access to. You could also, as mentioned above, try to get into his online banking on a computer in the web browser - that may not require the verification texts.
But you do have POA now [or will imminently.] It is possible that they have been so unresponsive up until now because you don't have POA. You are kind of no one legally to them until you have POA and they have seen and processed the documentation. If the person you have been trying to speak to at the branch you went to isn't helpful even once you tell them you have POA that you would like to send them documentation of so you can access his accounts, try calling a totally different branch and just asking about the bank procedure in this situation: I live out of state and I have power of attorney for a relative who banks with you and I need to be able to access his money to pay for his expenses, how do I proceed? It shouldn't necessarily need to be done at the branch he went to regularly.
posted by needs more cowbell at 3:37 PM on July 24 [10 favorites]
For others reading this (and for you going forward), something that would help immensely in this situation is to have your relative add you as a co-owner on the account(s). It's probably too late for the NC accounts, but may be advisable for the Oregon accounts. This is especially true if you end up being named executor of your relative's estate (are you? Do you know who is? Does your relative even have a will?). The POA relationship ends at your relative's death; if you are co-owner of the accounts, you don't have to wait for probate or other legal concerns to be ironed out to use the money for settling things up. (Obviously, check with a local estate planning attorney on this; I speak as a layman who is currently POA to my mother, is named as executor in her will, and co-owns her checking account jointly with her and my sister.)
posted by lhauser at 6:55 PM on July 24 [1 favorite]
posted by lhauser at 6:55 PM on July 24 [1 favorite]
something that would help immensely in this situation is to have your relative add you as a co-owner on the account(s)
An elder law attorney told us recently to NOT become a co-owner on your relative's accounts as it gives you tax liabilities that you would have despite it not being your money. They just recommended that the elder give the person with POA online access to the accounts.
However, I can understand the advantage of being a co-owner when there is probate.
It would be best to talk to an attorney on the best way to proceed.
posted by ShooBoo at 10:50 PM on July 24 [1 favorite]
An elder law attorney told us recently to NOT become a co-owner on your relative's accounts as it gives you tax liabilities that you would have despite it not being your money. They just recommended that the elder give the person with POA online access to the accounts.
However, I can understand the advantage of being a co-owner when there is probate.
It would be best to talk to an attorney on the best way to proceed.
posted by ShooBoo at 10:50 PM on July 24 [1 favorite]
Best answer: If you Google "register POA (name of bank)", you may find there's a documented official procedure to follow, with a form to fill in.
posted by quacks like a duck at 11:44 PM on July 24 [1 favorite]
posted by quacks like a duck at 11:44 PM on July 24 [1 favorite]
Just did this for my own family. It was a long, manual process. Lots of real talk on the phone and many transfers to other numbers, calls back, mailing papers, and all that. It finally got done but OMG.
Prepare yourself for all those things. Have both scanned and real copies of everything. Get large manila envelopes and stamps. Be sure to ask everyone for their name and direct line # when you talk to them. Do not exit a call without reaffirming what you need to do next. Get mailing addresses and email addresses - make a database to track it all and log your date and timestamps for your interactions.
Talk in a quiet place because many companies outsource these types of support systems to 3rd-party phone banks in non-EN speaking countries and it sometimes can be hard to hear and understand speakers in other cultures.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 4:11 AM on July 26 [1 favorite]
Prepare yourself for all those things. Have both scanned and real copies of everything. Get large manila envelopes and stamps. Be sure to ask everyone for their name and direct line # when you talk to them. Do not exit a call without reaffirming what you need to do next. Get mailing addresses and email addresses - make a database to track it all and log your date and timestamps for your interactions.
Talk in a quiet place because many companies outsource these types of support systems to 3rd-party phone banks in non-EN speaking countries and it sometimes can be hard to hear and understand speakers in other cultures.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 4:11 AM on July 26 [1 favorite]
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posted by Alensin at 2:50 PM on July 24 [4 favorites]