The 2025 Estate Settlement Report Card: Grading America's Financial Institutions
Sunset's inaugural Report evaluated 100 of America's largest financial institutions on how they treat bereaved families.
_2026-02-22_20-11-30.jpg)
Every year, more than 3 million American families lose a loved one. What follows isn't just grief. It's an avalanche of phone calls, paperwork, and dead ends as they try to close bank accounts, claim life insurance, and transfer retirement funds. The average family spends over 500 hours on estate administration. Most of that time is spent fighting the institutions that are supposed to help.
Today we're publishing Sunset's inaugural 2025 Estate Settlement Report Card, a comprehensive evaluation of 100 of America's largest banks, brokerages, retirement providers, and life insurance companies on how they treat families during this process.
The results are not good.
What we found
We graded each institution across six categories: Process Accessibility, Documentation Requirements, Timeline, Staff Training, Communication Consistency, and Dedicated Estate Support. Every grade was based on real family experiences during the 2025 calendar year, over 1,000 of them.
The overall average grade was a C. Only 11 out of 100 institutions earned above a C. Thirty-six received a D. None failed outright, but the bar for failure is low, and the bar for "satisfactory" shouldn't be the ceiling.
Some of the most troubling findings:
55% of institutions still don't let families start the estate process online. In 2025, families are being told to drive to a branch, sometimes in another state, just to notify a bank that someone has died.
Regional banks performed the worst, averaging a D+. Many require in-person visits, lack dedicated estate teams, and provide inconsistent information from one representative to the next.
Staff training is the industry's biggest weakness. We routinely encountered representatives who had never handled an estate case, gave contradictory instructions, or couldn't answer basic questions about their own institution's process.
Who got it right
Not everyone failed. A handful of institutions have invested in making this process humane.
Capital One earned the highest overall grade, an A. Their dedicated estate operations team is responsive, knowledgeable, and handles the entire process over email after a single phone call. Bank of America and U.S. Bank also earned A- grades, with U.S. Bank's assigned "Life Events Specialist" standing out as a model for the industry.
Among brokerages, Fidelity and Vanguard led the way with B grades. Robinhood, perhaps surprisingly, earned a B+. Its digital-first approach translates well to estate settlement.
The institutions that scored highest shared common traits: a dedicated estate services team, a single assigned case manager, clear documentation requirements published upfront, and a commitment to keeping families informed throughout the process.
Who needs to do better
At the bottom of the rankings, Valley National Bank, First National Bank of Pennsylvania, First Horizon Bank, Columbia Bank, Cadence Bank, and Bank OZK all received D grades. These institutions lack online initiation, require in-person visits, and scored poorly on staff training and communication.
Some big names also underperformed. Chase, the largest bank in America, earned a C- with D grades in four of six categories. KeyBank earned a D+ with an F in staff training. TD Bank, Truist, and Regions Bank all earned D+ grades.
The pattern is clear: size doesn't equal quality. Having thousands of branches means nothing if the people staffing them can't help a family close an account after a death.
What we're asking institutions to do
Based on our findings, we're calling on every financial institution to adopt five practices:
Enable online estate initiation so families can begin the process remotely. Assign a dedicated case manager as a single point of contact. Publish clear documentation requirements upfront so families aren't surprised weeks into the process. Train all customer-facing staff on estate procedures. And commit to a defined settlement timeline with proactive updates.
These aren't radical ideas. The top performers already do all of them. The question is whether the rest of the industry will follow.
Why we built this
Sunset exists because this process is broken. We're a Y Combinator-backed software company that helps families discover and transfer financial assets after a death. We search across thousands of financial institutions to find accounts families didn't even know existed, then help them navigate the settlement process.
We built this report card because families deserve to know what they're walking into before they pick up the phone. And because institutions need to know that someone is watching.
This is our inaugural edition. We plan to publish this report annually. We hope next year's grades look better.
For press inquiries, contact [email protected].
About Sunset
The estate settlement platform
Sunset finds what the deceased owned and owed, then handles the paperwork and transfers that settle the estate. More than 15,000 families have used it, and attorneys and fiduciaries use Sunset Pro for their clients' estates.
Find every account
One search across 2,500+ financial institutions surfaces bank accounts, retirement plans, life insurance, and debts in the deceased's name.
Prepare the paperwork
Court-ready probate documents for every state and county, plus an FDIC-insured estate account to hold the funds.
Close and transfer
Sunset contacts each institution, closes the accounts, and moves the money to the beneficiaries and heirs.
Frequently asked questions
What is Sunset?
Sunset is an estate settlement platform that helps families discover and close the financial accounts, assets, and debts of a person who has died.
Sunset is designed for family members, executors, and personal representatives who are settling an estate themselves. It includes the full Sunset closure suite: financial account discovery, bank notifications, assisted phone calls and emails, estate bank account setup, probate document generation, and asset transfers, for $120 per estate.
Sunset Pro is designed for probate attorneys, licensed fiduciaries, trustees, and aftercare specialists who settle estates on behalf of their clients. Sunset Pro starts at $500 per asset search, with monthly subscription plans available for solo practitioners, small firms, and large firms.
Both Sunset and Sunset Pro are available in all 50 states and U.S. territories.
Who can use Sunset?
Sunset can be used by family members, executors, administrators, and personal representatives responsible for settling a deceased person's estate.
Sunset supports asset discovery and probate across all 50 states and every U.S. county, helping you manage the estate regardless of where the deceased lived or where the estate is being settled.
How does Sunset help settle an estate?
Sunset handles the most time-consuming parts of estate settlement.
We search 2,500+ financial institutions like banks and retirement funds, the credit bureaus, and state unclaimed-property databases to find accounts and assets the family may not know about. We prepare probate documents specific to your county in all 50 states and help establish an estate bank account where recovered funds can be deposited.
Then Sunset helps close the deceased person’s accounts and move the funds into the estate account, ready for distribution to the heirs.
With Sunset, about 90% of account closures can be completed without you having to call or visit a branch.
What does it mean to settle an estate?
Settling an estate means closing out someone’s financial life after they die.
It involves identifying what they owned and owed, obtaining the legal authority to act on their behalf, paying valid debts and final taxes, and transferring what remains to the people who inherit it.
Depending on the state and the size of the estate, it can be complicated or simple. Either way, Sunset can help.
What is required to settle an estate?
Most estates require a core set of documents and accounts, including a certified death certificate, legal authority to act for the estate, a federal EIN, an estate bank account, and an inventory of the estate’s assets and debts.
Sunset can help with all of these except the death certificate.
Depending on the circumstances, legal authority may come in the form of letters testamentary, letters of administration, or a small-estate affidavit.
Once that authority is established, the estate can begin notifying financial institutions, paying valid debts and final taxes, and distributing the remaining assets to the heirs or beneficiaries.
Sunset prepares the paperwork required for these steps and submits what we can on your behalf.
How much does Sunset cost?
Sunset costs $120 per estate, paid once when you sign up. It covers asset discovery, probate document generation, account closure, asset transfers, and estate bank account setup. Full details are on our pricing page. The credit bureau notification tool and the estate bank account have no charge.
Sunset Pro is for probate attorneys, licensed fiduciaries, trustees, and aftercare specialists. It starts at $500 per asset search, with subscription plans available for solo practitioners, small firms, and large firms.
The fee counts as an estate administration expense, so you can reimburse yourself from the estate. Sunset never takes a percentage of the estate, and all assets go to the beneficiaries and heirs.
How much does it usually cost to settle an estate?
The cost of settling an estate varies widely depending on its size, complexity, and where you live.
Hiring a probate attorney commonly costs $2,500 to $10,000, with more complex estates costing considerably more. In states with statutory probate fees, attorney fees may instead be calculated as a percentage of the estate. For example, a 3% to 7% fee on a $500,000 estate would be $15,000 to $35,000.
With Sunset, any fee counts as an estate administration expense the executor can reimburse from the estate, and Sunset never takes a percentage of the inheritance.
Can you settle an estate without a lawyer?
Yes. In many cases, you can settle an estate without hiring a lawyer. Sunset helps families handle the process themselves by finding assets, preparing probate documents, closing financial accounts, establishing an estate bank account, and collecting the estate's assets.
What about probate documents?
You can use our software to generate and sometimes file probate documents in every county nationwide.
Online notarization is also available through Sunset.
If your case is unusually complex, or disputed, we recommend hiring experienced probate counsel.
What is an estate bank account? Who controls it?
An estate bank account is a standard bank account in the estate’s name where all funds are consolidated. You can use it to pay expenses, view a full transaction history, and eventually distribute inheritance to beneficiaries.
With one click Sunset can set up an estate bank account.
You control the estate bank account. You can pay bills, taxes, and distribute the funds to heirs.
All estate bank accounts set up by Sunset are FDIC insured.
How can I pay estate expenses?
Once you have an estate bank account, you can use it to pay legitimate expenses related to settling the estate. Sunset's fee is one of those expenses.
If you paid estate expenses out of your own pocket before the estate account was established, you may also be able to reimburse yourself from the estate, provided the expenses are legitimate and properly documented.
Am I responsible for their debts?
Generally, no. The deceased's debts are paid from their estate, and family members usually don't have to pay them with their own money. You can be responsible for a debt you co-signed or held jointly, and in community property states a spouse may be responsible for some debts.
If a loan is secured by property, such as a home or vehicle, it can be paid off from estate funds or the property can transfer with the loan. Sunset flags any debt that has a living co-borrower or joint account holder.
What security measures does Sunset have?
Sunset is SOC 2 Type II certified and built with security and privacy at the center of how we handle sensitive estate information.
We use identity and fraud-prevention measures to verify deceased individuals and beneficiaries, and we conduct background checks on our employees. We continuously monitor and improve our security practices to protect the financial information, documents, and personal data entrusted to us.
Will the financial institution be notified of a Sunset search?
No, we do not notify any financial institutions of the death when performing our searches, except for in the case of life insurance.
Our process combines document review, data integrations, and indirect verification with financial institutions. Families usually discover most accounts within 1 day, although some bank account confirmations take up to two weeks.
Financial institutions are only notified after a request for closure and transfer has been made by you.
Can Sunset help me settle an estate in my county or state?
Yes. Sunset works in all 50 states and all 3,000+ U.S. counties.
Sunset generates probate documents specific to the county where the estate is being settled and helps you complete the required steps. When notarization is required, online notarization is available where permitted.
Can Sunset help my probate attorney?
Yes. Attorneys regularly recommend Sunset to their clients. Before your attorney can advise you on the right probate path, they need a picture of the estate's assets and debts. Sunset's search gives you that list to share. Attorneys who want full account detail for their own work can use Sunset Pro.
