USAA treats widows and widowers so badly… anyone else had this problem?

I am beyond frustrated with USAA. My husband passed away a few months ago, and dealing with that has been hard enough. But on top of that, USAA shut down all our accounts—checking, savings, credit cards—everything. My husband was a retired Naval Aviator who flew in Vietnam and had been with USAA for 58 years. After all those years, they just cut me off completely.

I had no way to pay for his funeral, my mortgage, groceries, or even my gas bill. It was like they just erased me from our finances. I know they’re a business, but they always talk about supporting the military. That’s a joke. I was sitting on the floor crying, trying to figure out how to pay for my husband’s funeral, and they didn’t care at all.

On top of everything, they also shut down our credit cards, so now my credit has taken a huge hit. And because they closed the accounts, any payments coming in—like Social Security—got sent back, and it takes months to fix that. Creditors started calling nonstop. I even had to go without heat this winter because I couldn’t afford to keep it on.

Navy Federal, on the other hand, actually helped me. They opened an account for me, let me pay my mortgage late, and even put some money in my account so I could buy groceries. Meanwhile, USAA has done nothing but make life harder.

And the fact that they don’t even have physical branches in most places? That alone should be a red flag. I’ve talked to other military widows who went through the exact same thing. My husband served this country for 23 years and even flew two CIA directors after retiring. USAA couldn’t care less. Shameful.

The Survivor Relations team should have helped you with this… I’m so sorry you had to go through that.

I completely agree with you, but any money in checking and savings should have been yours. Credit accounts, though, technically belong to the bank.

Have you reached out to the VA for funeral help? They have programs that can cover some or even all of it.

@Greer
It depends on the state, especially if there wasn’t a will. In Texas, for example, if there’s no will, half the assets automatically go to the children.

This is why everyone should have their assets in a trust. It makes things much easier for the family if something happens unexpectedly.

I’m so sorry for your loss.

If you weren’t listed as an account owner, that’s why they shut everything down. Legally, they have to do that while the estate goes through probate.

For anyone reading this, make sure you bank somewhere that has actual branches you can walk into. USAA being online-only is a huge problem when things like this happen.

USAA hasn’t been the same since they sold out years ago. They used to greet me by my last rank, but now I can barely get a rep who even knows what military service is.