Consumer complaint received 2023-01-11
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Banking errors
Company: UMB FINANCIAL CORPORATION (MO)

I am on a joint checking account with my dad at United Missouri Bank ( UMB ). He passed away XX/XX/XXXX. Prior to my dad passing away, he received monthly deposits from XXXX XXXX On XX/XX/XXXX he received one payment for {$1400.00} and XX/XX/XXXX for {$1400.00}. Since XXXX XXXX pays a month behind, he was eligible for the XXXX payment because he lived the whole month of XXXX. He was not eligible for the XXXX payment because he did not live the whole month of XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I noticed that the account was {$0.00} which should have been {$610.00} because that's how much was in the account prior to the XXXX payment, to pay the taxes on my dad 's house. I contacted UMB Bank on XX/XX/XXXX to inquire about the {$0.00} balance. I was informed that XXXX XXXX  reclaimed the money. I then asked why wasn't just the {$1400.00} reclaimed. The representative said that she wasn't sure and that another department handles the reclaims and she would submit for review and someone would contact me. I then called social security and at that time they did not have information on how much was returned. They also confirmed that he would have been eligible for the XXXX payment but not the XXXX payment. The representative stated that she can send the my case to the payment center which is who handles this process, and I will be notified in writing within 30 days. I learned by checking my dad 's phone messages on XX/XX/XXXX that a person from the XXXXXXXX XXXX UMB location ( XXXX ) left a voicemail. I immediately called her. She explained to me that if social security notifies them that someone is deceased, then they send all funds back that came in after the person dies. On XX/XX/XXXX I called the UMB downtown location and asked for a supervisor. The person that got on the line was a male. I asked him to explain to me the process when an account holder passes away. He basically said the same thing the previous representative said and he added that they should have sent back the full month of XXXX since he died before the XXXX payment was deposited. I tried to explain to him that according to social security, he was eligible for the XXXX payment because he lived the whole month of XXXX. He told me that I will just have to wait to see what social security says. On that same day XX/XX/XXXX, I checked the account again and now instead of it saying {$0.00}, it was negative {$810.00}. I'm assuming the guy that I spoke with had sent back the full month of XXXX instead of just what was in the account previously. I'm assuming this because he is the only one that made the comment about sending back the full month of XXXX and it happened the same day I spoke with him. About a week later, I went into a branch in XXXX, XXXX  to see if they could shed a little more light on this situation. The teller was very nice and couldn't understand why that was done. He then called the XXXX location and spoke with someone who also basically said the same thing that they had been saying. He allowed me to speak with that representative too and I asked, when social security notifies UMB that someone is deceased, do they give an amount that they are reclaiming. She said no, all social security does is notify UMB that someone is deceased and it is UMB 's policy to send all funds back that comes in after the person is deceased, and once that is done, if a person is eligible for some of those funds, the social security will send back whatever they're eligible for. I left in tears because not only am I dealing with the passing of my father, I now have a negative balance in the account which will be sent to collections if I can't pay. On XX/XX/XXXX, a lady called from the UMB collections department to inform me of the negative balance. I explained to her the situation and she said she would notate the account and contact me later for an update. I will also soon begin being charged fee 's for the low balance and insufficient funds. My dad is due {$1400.00} for the month of XXXX. I still have not heard from social security.