Estate planning as a REI account holder

REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) is a consumer cooperative. A one-time $30 fee buys a lifetime co-op membership — "Pay $30 just once, enjoy forever" — and the membership's main ongoing benefit is the annual Co-op Member Reward (historically called the "annual dividend"), an estimated 10 percent back on eligible full-price purchases, added to the member's account each March for the prior year. The Co-op Member Reward can be a Patronage Dividend (a patronage distribution governed by the Co-op Governance Documents), a Promotional Reward (a discretionary non-patronage distribution governed by the Member Loyalty Program Terms), or a combination of both, as REI determines annually. Members also gain the right to vote for the REI Board of Directors. The estate-relevant assets are the lifetime membership itself and any unredeemed Co-op Member Reward balance — but the co-op's own governing documents state the membership is not transferable and does not pass by any form of succession.

REI rewards are forfeited at death under the program's terms. The terms explicitly state that rewards are not the account holder's property and cannot be inherited, transferred by will, or assigned through any estate planning mechanism.

What happens at death

The REI Co-op membership does not survive its member, and this is settled at the co-op governance level rather than only in loyalty-program fine print. The Articles of Incorporation state: "Membership shall not be transferable and shall not pass by any form of succession." The Amended and Restated Bylaws, § 2.5 ("No transfer of membership"), state: "No member may transfer the member's membership or any right arising from that membership" — language broad enough to cover the Patronage Dividend as well as the membership itself. The Member Loyalty Program Terms name those two documents as the Co-op Governance Documents and provide that they control in any conflict. Consistently with them, REI's membership page states: "Your member number is issued only in your name. Only you can redeem your Co-op Member Reward and REI Co-op Mastercard Rewards, and only you can vote for the REI board of directors. Your membership cannot be transferred to someone else. It's yours for life." The Program Terms add that "Only the primary Member (not spouse or other family member) may redeem Promotional Rewards," that Promotional Rewards "are not transferable upon death, as part of a domestic relations matter or otherwise by operation of law," that attempting a transfer "will void the Member's Digital Account and cancel the Promotional Reward," and that "Except as expressly permitted by REI in its sole discretion, Promotional Rewards do not constitute Member property and may be revoked at any time." The membership fee is not recoverable either: Bylaws § 2.2 calls it "a non-refundable membership application fee," § 2.6 provides that on termination for any reason the person "has no right to a refund of the person's membership fee nor a further right to any patronage dividend or other distribution," and REI's own membership FAQ states "Memberships are non-refundable and not returnable." One nuance is worth keeping straight rather than flattening: the Program Terms' forfeiture section says "Forfeiture provisions apply only to the Program and do not apply to a Member's Patronage Dividend or core membership rights in the co-op," so the Patronage Dividend is not forfeited by the Program's misconduct rules — but it is still caught by Bylaws § 2.5 and by the Articles' succession bar, and by the Bylaws' own expiry rule, under which an unused patronage dividend reverts to REI. REI publishes no beneficiary designation, no survivor mechanism, and no deceased-member process, so an unredeemed reward and the lifetime membership are effectively forfeited at death. A surviving family member who wants REI benefits buys their own $30 lifetime membership; REI also states that gifting a membership is not currently possible, though a gift card can be used to buy one.

Frequently asked questions