Ask Terry Questions Brokerage account after death

Brokerage account after death

By Terry Savage on July 03, 2023 |

Account holder passed away, death certificate provided in December 2022, had to go through probate for letters of administration received May 2023… informed by Merrill lynch account was still actively trading. Is this standard procedure?

Terry Says

Absolutely not! But perhaps you are not giving me the actual words they gave you. You should ask for the monthly statements from the date of death. That should be instantly available. If transactions were made — and if the account holder did not give written power of attorney to do so — then you have a claim against the brokerage firm.
So get the statements. Make sure nothing happened in the intervening months — except reinvestment of dividends, and basic things like that. And then immediately write a letter explaining that this was done without instructions.
If there was money lost, then you should demand not only the losses, but interest on the account that the money would have earned. If they don’t IMMEDIATELY resolve this to your satisfaction, tell them you’ll go to FINRA arbitration and they will lose, and be penalized. And the broker who did this will have it on his record. (They should discipline him/her anyway if this activity occurred.)

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