Mark's Notebook

Why I Use A Credit Union Instead Of A Bank

I'm the trustee of my dad's estate. He had a checking account at a local bank. OK, well, one of the large California-based banks. So I went there today to deposit some of his checks and get money to pay his bills.

The first thing they say is, "Your name is on the account, you are a co-signer on the account." Cool! That means I can have access to the account, right? "Well, no, you have to take this form, fill it out, have it notarized, and bring it back. Then wait 40 days and you'll get access to the account." Whoa? My dad put my name on the account, but I have to go through all this and wait?

So he calls his supervisor. She puts him on hold. What kind of a bank is this where you put people on hold internally for several minutes, when they are waiting on customers?

OK, cancel all the notary stuff. "Just fill out this form, you can deposit your checks, and we'll cut you a check to pay your bills." Great! "Oh, and fill out this deposit slip." Deposit slip? It's been so long since I filled out one of these I don't even remember how. At my credit union, I just sign the checks and they deposit them for me. I've got 11 checks here. "Do you need a calculator?" No, I'll just make up a large number for the bottom line, and hope you don't actually put the numbers into one of those computer-thingies to double-check my math. Doh!

So my dad opened this account in the 1960's. "We can't find your dad's signature card." So I have to wait until tomorrow when they'll cut me a cashier's check and put it in the mail. My broken hip is still healing, and as long as I'm using the walker I don't really want to drive back to a downtown bank and park in the underground garage. At least they will put the check in the mail. They'll also call me when they find the signature card.

Finally, "You have to notify all these people and tell them not to write checks to your dad any more." Understood. But some of them are stock dividends, and all of them are money that belongs to the estate, not money that belongs to me. So as long as I have papers that certify I'm the trustee, I should be able to deposit my dad's checks into any account I own, even if they are made out to him. But especially if they are made out to "the estate of."

Oh, did I forget to mention that they abandoned me four or five times, each time for five to ten minutes? Looking for signature cards, making photocopies, asking an absent manager what to do next.

Tomorrow, I visit my credit union to see if they can offer customer service any better than this. Maybe I don't understand all the legal angles, but customer service I do understand. Finding someone in a bank who understands probate issues should not be that difficult.

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Last updated Tuesday 13 May 2008