Hi, please be gentle. I am not versed at all in finance/investing.
My dad passed away recently. He had a Fidelity account and, when I log in, I can see the following accounts; Individual, Traditional IRA, and Roth IRA. All 3 accounts have a balance.
When I called Fidelity to report his passing, I got a response "The decedent currently does not hold a balance in any of the above referenced Plan Sponsor's retirement plans through Fidelity Investments".
When I inquired further by phone, I got a response that this is a "back to benefits" type of situation and I should call his former employer.
I have been trying to reach his former employer for weeks but no one is getting back to me.
This may seem like a dumb question but, why do these accounts show up with a balance when I log in to fidelity if he "does not hold a balance".
Secondly, what do I do if I cannot reach the former employer?
Sorry in advance if the situation seems really obvious. I am lost and stressed about his passing and all of these personal matters. Thank you!
Fidelity account – Father passed away
byu/tealee76 inpersonalfinance
Posted by tealee76
7 Comments
It sounds like you are calling the part of Fidelity that deals with workplace retirement plans. You want the main part of Fidelity instead.
“Plan Sponsor’s retirement plans” usually refers to something like a 401k or 403b. The accounts you mentioned are all individual accounts. Maybe you called the wrong number? The 401ks at Fidelity are handled by a different department (they call it “NetBenefits”) than the rest of Fidelity.
You could also post this on /r/fidelityinvestments, the mod team is made up of Fidelity employees and they’re very active on the sub.
Look for last statement for your father’s accounts. This should show latest balance as of statement date and should have a contact phone number. You will need to contact employer if this is a 401k type acct. Accts you described should all be under main Fidelity umbrella.
Not sure if you should log in to his accounts. Even if you were POA that ends when person passes away. If you are beneficiary on these accts, you can contact and state that. Fidelity will have a process to proceed including some forms and death certificate.
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Im surprised Fidelity hasn’t locked these accounts once you called asking for info, regardless if the account has a balance or not. Fidelity was strict with my parents account, and I couldn’t do anything without a death certificate. My siblings and I were the listed beneficiaries. But Fidelity Inheritance Services department was strict with rule enforcement.
If there is a Fidelity office near you it might be worth stopping by and speaking directly to a human about this.
When you log in, can you see if he named Beneficiaries? When my mom passed, she had named my sister and me beneficiaries. We had to send Fidelity the Death Certificate (and maybe Letters Testamentary) and they took the assets from my moms account and put them in to our accounts, and created IRA-BDA’s for us out of her IRAs.