How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Banc of California

Under Section 50 of the Deposit Account Agreement, individual, joint, tenancy in common, community property, Totten trust or POD, custodial and fiduciary accounts each distribute differently at death. A POD designation controls only on an account titled to carry one.¹

The Deposit Account Agreement recognizes a POD or Totten trust account as an informal revocable trust.¹

IRA accounts require a beneficiary designation. It is updated in a branch or by phone.²

A trust can be named as beneficiary, with its full legal name, the trust date and the trustee names.²

Under Section 50.e of the Deposit Account Agreement, if two or more POD beneficiaries survive, they take in equal shares without right of survivorship.¹

In a branch or by mail the bank asks for allocation percentages when more than one beneficiary is named, and whether each is primary or contingent.²

The owner signs the updated signature card or beneficiary designation the branch provides. Section 50 keys the payout to what the account records and signature card show, so an unsigned change does not control.^{2, 1}

Completed by the account owner. Sent by the institution on request.²

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Under Section 50.e, a POD beneficiary cannot withdraw until every person who created the account has died and the beneficiary is then living.¹

While alive, the people who created a POD account keep the right to change beneficiaries, change the account type and withdraw all or part of the funds at any time. A POD designation is not a lifetime gift.¹

Because surviving POD beneficiaries take without right of survivorship, a deceased co-beneficiary's share does not pass to the other beneficiaries.¹

Under Section 50.c, on a tenancy in common account a deceased party's interest passes to that party's own POD payee, or to that party's estate if none. It does not pass to the surviving co-owner.¹

Under Section 51, any pledge of the account as collateral must be satisfied first, before the rights of a surviving owner or an account beneficiary become effective.¹

Both revocable and irrevocable trusts are accepted for deposit accounts under the Deposit Account Agreement and Disclosure.¹

The Deposit Account Agreement recognizes formal revocable trusts, such as living or family trusts.¹

IRA accounts are not eligible for trust titling.²

Sent by the institution on request.²

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Existing personal accounts can typically be retitled to trust accounts by visiting a branch with the required trust documentation. In-branch visits are the primary method for trust account setup.²

Under Section 67, the bank may require any documents it reasonably requests to satisfy itself that you are authorized to open and use the account, and does not have to permit any withdrawal until it receives them.¹

The bank disclaims any duty to monitor the trustee or to check whether deposits and withdrawals are consistent with the trust.¹

When a successor trustee is appointed, the same Section 67 rule applies again: the bank may require the documents it requests and hold withdrawals until it receives them.¹

Under Section 67, the trustees certify that they are authorized and agree to indemnify, defend and hold the bank harmless, individually and jointly and severally, against claims arising from how they handle the account.¹