How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Associated Bank
Covers 8 deposit, 6 retirement, 1 investment, and 2 lending accounts — beneficiaries can be managed online
Associated Bank Private Wealth - Trust & Estate Administration (fiduciary services provided through Associated Trust Company, N.A.)
Customer Care (account holder deceased) -- Associated Bank publishes no separate claims department, claim form, or claims portal; deposit-account claims are handled at a branch or through this line
Associated Bank, WE CARE Department, 1305 Main Street, MS 7722, Stevens Point, WI 54481-0327 (the bank's published address for written complaints and for mortgage requests for information and error resolution -- it is not a claims intake; deliver account claim documents to a branch or as Customer Care directs)
The key to protecting your Associated Bank accounts is making sure each one has a transfer mechanism in place—either a beneficiary designation or trust ownership. Without one, the account goes through probate, adding time, cost, and court involvement for your family.
Associated Bank has 17 product types, and the estate transfer rules differ across them. Some support Payable on Death (POD) designations, some can be retitled into a trust, and others will require probate if nothing is set up. Each is covered below.
- Enter percentages in whole numbers; primary and contingent percentages must each total 100%
- The maximum number of primary and contingent beneficiaries is 100
- To name a trust, estate or charity, check the corresponding box and enter its name and Tax ID/EIN; the name field is limited to 39 characters, so abbreviate, and add a contact person in the Address 1 field
- If the Tax ID/EIN is unknown, the site instructs you to use the last four digits of your own Social Security number
Required Documents
- Trust name, date established, and tax ID (EIN or SSN)
Special Requirements
- Signatures of ALL account holders are required to add, change, or remove POD beneficiaries (Deposit Account Agreement section 4.4)
- An agent (power of attorney) cannot designate, remove or change POD beneficiaries unless Associated Bank determines the agency document clearly authorizes the agent to exercise testamentary powers, and an agent may never name himself or herself as a POD beneficiary unless the document clearly authorizes the agent to exercise agency powers for the agent's own benefit (section 4.16)
- Associated Bank may require the agent to provide current government-issued identification and identifying information, including the agent's Social Security number, before adding the agent to the account
- Beneficiaries must be living to claim an interest in the funds
- If multiple POD beneficiaries are named, funds belong to the surviving POD beneficiaries equally with NO right of survivorship unless the designation form says otherwise -- the agreement's own example is that where two beneficiaries survive the owner and one then dies, half is paid to the living beneficiary and half to the deceased beneficiary's ESTATE, which can pull a POD account into probate after all (section 4.4)
- No joint tenant or POD beneficiary has to survive the deceased account holder by any period for ownership to transfer (section 4.5) -- Associated Bank imposes no survivorship waiting period
- POD beneficiaries have no ownership interest in the account until all account holders are deceased
- The person creating the designation keeps the right to change the beneficiaries, change the account type, and withdraw all or part of the deposit at any time on written notice to the bank
- A change is not effective until it has been entered into the bank's account information system, even after all paperwork is signed and delivered (section 4.20) -- verify the change took effect rather than relying on the signed form
- Named beneficiaries override instructions in a will
Sources
Data sourced from Associated Bank primary sources (27 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these Associated Bank instructions
Download instructions for the whole estateA printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details — verified against Associated Bank primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
Associated Bank Private Wealth - Trust & Estate Administration (fiduciary services provided through Associated Trust Company, N.A.)
Customer Care (account holder deceased) -- Associated Bank publishes no separate claims department, claim form, or claims portal; deposit-account claims are handled at a branch or through this line
Associated Bank, WE CARE Department, 1305 Main Street, MS 7722, Stevens Point, WI 54481-0327 (the bank's published address for written complaints and for mortgage requests for information and error resolution -- it is not a claims intake; deliver account claim documents to a branch or as Customer Care directs)
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