Mom passed on the 27th, social security took back August's payment & triggered overdraft protection account?

Purple - sorry for the death of your mom. All this is never simple, now is it?!

If you can make sure you get lots of death certificates - the FH can do this for you. Really I'd get at least 10 /15 as everything that needs to be shut off or closed out (utilties, credit cards, SS, retirement, insurance, etc) will require an original copy.

Now you will likely have to pay for the certificates.So you might as well start a notebook on your reinburseable costs like the certificates and overdraft stuff. Be sure to put all the details (check #, date, etc - be as OCD as possible)

Are you the executrix for the estate? If so you can pay yourself a management fee for this; also you can present your expenses as a claim against the estate.
There will be other costs coming up, like the newspaper cost to file the notice of probate, etc. There is always some kinda sheeaaa to write a check for, so keep track and pay by check.

Personally I would hold the insurance check for a while. Speak with your attorney, but what works well is to open a simple estate account at the bank that the insurance check goes into & after you have presented the letters & opened probate. Look at the insurance check to see if it has a deposit by date, you just want to get it into an account a couple of weeks before that date. It is from this new account that everything in the future gets paid from and you get reinbursed from. It sounds like you actually have someone at the bank you can talk with, ask them what you need to do this. Usually it's the probate docket # for it to happen as it shows that an executor has been named. Good luck and let us all know what your post death experience with paperwork is like.

No -- it's not about overdraft fees, as she wasn't charged any...the "overdraft" (caused by SS pulling back her payment for august) was covered by an advance on her overdraft protection credit card account. I assume I will need to pay that off, even though my name isn't on the card (but it IS on her bank account). I don't know - i'm probably making this sound more complicated than it really is...haha. I guess I just wanted to know if anyone else ran into this happening & how they handled it. I haven't yet told the bank she has passed because I figure they'll want a copy of her death certificate before doing anything anyways, and I don't yet have that. Yes, her life insurance will cover the "overdraft" - I was basically just floating a loan to cover the funeral expenses. ;)

I don't think that purplesushi is asking about just overdraft fees, but rather that the account now has a negative balance since a check was written against the SS funds that were deposited on the 3rd. Sonswife is correct that a person needs to be alive on the first of the month to keep the funds for that month. My step-grandmother died on April 30th, just short of midnight several years ago and the May check had to be returned. If you have funds available, I suggest that you pay off the balance to avoid interest charges and then file a claim against her estate to be reimbursed. If you don't have funds available, explain the situation to the bank and see if they will give you a grace period to pay the overdraft. I believe that if your name was on this account and you wrote the check, you are obligated to pay the overdraft. Hopefully the life insurance proceeds will be enough to cover this.

Visit the bank and explain the situration. More than likely, they will remove the fees for the overdraft.

My dad died on Aug 30 several years ago and his SS for Sept was pulled back, you have to be alive in the month to keep the money for that month.

If her estate goes Yo probate it will be listed in the local newspaper and all creditors owed money will notify court. If she has no estate then you don't have to pay.
If they call for payment they will ask for copy of death certificate.