Payment of certain debts without administration

1. Law
2. US Virgin Islands Code
3. Decedents' Estates and Fiduciary Relations
4. Decedents' Estates
5. Descent and Distribution
6. Payment of certain debts without administration

• (a) As used in this section—

  • “debt” means (1) money payable on account of a deposit in a bank, national bank, trust company, savings bank, industrial bank, territorial or federal savings and loan association or territorial or federal credit union, or with a private banker payable to, or to the estate of, or to a beneficiary designated by, the depositor, or (2) money payable by a state or federal savings and loan association or territorial or federal credit union to, or to the estate of, or to a beneficiary designated by, a member on account of the withdrawal value of his shares, or (3) money payable by an insurance company or a savings bank authorized to conduct the business of life insurance under an annuity or pure endowment contract or a policy of life, group life, industrial life, or accident and health insurance, or a contract made by such an insurer, relating to the payment of proceeds or avails thereof, to, or to the estate of, or to a beneficiary designated by, the owner or the person purchasing such annuity or the person effecting such supplemental contract, or (4) money payable by a public corporation, a territorial or the federal government or an agency thereof, to, or to the estate of, or to a beneficiary designated by, any natural person or (5) a pension or retirement or death benefit, profit share, earnings, wages, salary or bonus payable by an employer or by a pension, retirement or profit-sharing plan or system to, or to the estate of, or to a beneficiary designated by, an employee, or (6) a balance of money due on an accepted claim or account payable, on account of dividends payable in liquidation of bank assets, to, or to the estate of, or to a beneficiary designated by, a depositor; “Debtor” means the person or persons, partnership, corporation, government or government agency by whom a debt defined in this section is to be paid; “Creditor” means the employee, depositor, member, or other person, to whom, or to whose estate, or to a beneficiary designated by whom, a debt defined in this section is to be paid, and shall include any beneficiary validly designated by such a creditor; A “designation of a beneficiary” means any writing, signed by the creditor and delivered to the debtor, purporting to designate the person to whom a debt shall be paid on death of the creditor, or any transaction which operates pursuant to statute as such a designation.

• (b) Upon the death of a creditor, unless otherwise provided by a designation of a beneficiary which is then in effect, it shall be lawful for the debtor forthwith to pay to the surviving spouse of the decedent not more than one thousand dollars of the debt, upon an affidavit made by such spouse showing that such payment and all other payments received by such spouse under this subsection do not in the aggregate exceed $5,000.

• (c) Not less than thirty days after the death of a creditor, unless otherwise provided by a designation of a beneficiary which is then in effect, it shall be lawful for the debtor to pay not more than $5,000 of the debt to—

  • (1) the surviving spouse;

  • (2) one or more of the children 18 years of age or older;

  • (3) the father or mother;

  • (4) the brother or sister; or

  • (5) any other surviving relative, friend, or agent of decedent, preference being given in the order named if request for payment shall have been made by more than one such person, or, upon the request of the surviving spouse or one of such relatives, to a creditor of the decedent or to a person who has paid or incurred the funeral expenses of the decedent, upon an affidavit made by the surviving spouse, or relative to whom or at whose request the payment is made, accompanied by a certified copy of the death certificate, with the affidavit showing:

    • (A) the date of the death of the decedent;

    • (B) the relationship of the affiant to the decedent;

    • (C) that no executor or administrator has qualified or been appointed;

    • (D) the names and addresses of the persons entitled to and who will receive the money paid; and

    • (E) that such payment and all other payments made, under this section by all debtors, known to the affiant, after diligent inquiry, do not in the aggregate exceed such amount as provided by regulation promulgated by the Commissioner of Banking.

      This subsection does not limit the right of a debtor to make payment to a surviving spouse within less than thirty (30) days after the death of the creditor as provided in subsection (b) of this section.

• (d) [Repealed.]

• (e) A payment made in good faith under this section shall be a complete discharge to the debtor to the extent of the payment, even though the affidavit on which payment is made is false, and even though payment pursuant to subsection (c) of this section was not made in the order of preference indicated in that subsection, provided only that the creditor is dead and that the required number of days elapses between death and payment and, in the case of a payment under subsection (b) of this section or subsection (c) of this section, that the affiant in fact bears the stated relationship to the decedent, and in the case of a payment under subsection (d) of this section, that the affiant is in fact a distributee or creditor, or has paid or incurred the funeral expenses.

• (f) Any person receiving payment pursuant to this section is accountable therefor to the lawful executor or administrator of the decedent if one is appointed, or to the district court; except that a surviving spouse entitled to have property set aside to him or to her pursuant to section 352 of this title need not account for such payments to the extent of the exemption provided in such section 352, and the amount so received shall be credited to such exemption.

• (g) Nothing in this section shall deprive any person of any right which he would otherwise have to receive payment of a debt, except as against a debtor who has made a payment which is a discharge under subsection (e) of this section; nor shall anything in this section deprive any debtor of any right to make or refuse payment which it would otherwise have.

• (h) This section shall apply to payments not otherwise governed by applicable law.

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