How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Bank OZK

On the Texas selection form, a convenience signer "may make transactions on your behalf during your lifetime, but does not own the account during your lifetime," and "owns the account on your death only if the convenience signer is also designated as a P.O.D. payee or trust account beneficiary."¹

A trust can be named. Under the Arkansas edition it must be the only beneficiary: a single non-natural person or one or more natural persons, not a mix.²

An estate can be named. Under the Arkansas edition it must be the single beneficiary, not named alongside individuals.²

A charity can be named. Under the Arkansas edition it must be the single beneficiary, not named alongside individuals.²

One or more natural persons can be named. Under the Arkansas edition they cannot be named alongside a trust, an estate or a charity.²

The designation has no percentage field in any edition, so an unequal split cannot be built into a POD designation.³

POD designations are taken in branch or started by phone with Customer Care, and still require a signature. Customer Care routes phone requests to the owner or to a branch for signature.³

On the Texas selection form you initial the account type you want, then sign an acknowledgment that you read each paragraph and received disclosure of the ownership rights.¹

Completed by the account owner. Available to download.¹

Provided at a branch.³

Bank OZK publishes nine deposit account agreements (AR, FL, GA, NC, TN, TX, NY, SC, AL) whose POD provisions are not interchangeable. The governing edition is the one for the state where the account was opened, not where you live now.³

The account creator keeps full control during life: the ownership clause reserves the right to change beneficiaries, change account types, and withdraw all or part of the funds at any time.³

A beneficiary cannot withdraw until all persons who created the account have died and the beneficiary is then living.³

The account ownership type, not your will, controls the balance. The Texas selection form opens with the notice "The type of account you select may determine how property passes on your death."¹

Every edition of the agreement reserves Bank OZK's right to refuse some forms of ownership and beneficiary designations.³

Under the Arkansas edition, two or more surviving natural-person beneficiaries own the account in equal shares, with right of survivorship.²

Under the Arkansas edition, a non-natural beneficiary must also show proof of legal existence and/or good standing before it can withdraw.²

The Georgia edition's clause is titled "Revocable Trust or Pay-on-Death Account" and has no single-non-natural-person restriction. Two or more surviving beneficiaries own the account in equal shares, without right of survivorship.⁴

The Tennessee edition's clause is titled "Revocable Trust or Pay-on-Death Account" and has no single-non-natural-person restriction. Two or more surviving beneficiaries own the account in equal shares, without right of survivorship.⁵

The North Carolina edition's "Payable on Death (POD) Account" clause is governed by North Carolina law, has no single-non-natural-person restriction and states no equal-shares rule. North Carolina also offers a Personal Agency Account.⁶

The Florida edition uses Florida's statutory ownership menu with a separate "Rights at Death" clause. It has no single-non-natural-person restriction and states no equal-shares rule.⁷

The Texas edition has no ownership clause and states no equal-shares rule. You elect the account type by initialing the statutory Uniform Single-Party or Multiple-Party Account Selection Form.⁸

The Texas selection form also offers a "trust account" ownership type: the trustees own it in proportion to their net contributions, and a beneficiary may not withdraw funds before all trustees are deceased.¹

On the death of the last surviving trustee, the Texas trust account passes to the beneficiary. It does not pass under a trustee's will or by intestacy unless the trustee survives all of the beneficiaries and all other trustees.¹

Under the Fiduciary Accounts clause, worded identically in the AR, GA, TN, FL, NC and TX editions, the account "may be opened and maintained by a person or persons named as a trustee under a written trust agreement."^{2, 4, 5, 7, 6, 8}

The same clause says that by opening the account Bank OZK is "not acting in the capacity of a trustee in connection with the trust" nor undertaking "any obligation to monitor or enforce the terms of the trust," and is not responsible for a fiduciary's actions.^{2, 4, 5, 7, 6, 8}

The Setoff clause does not apply where "the debtor's right of withdrawal only arises in a representative capacity," so a trustee's or executor's personal debt to Bank OZK cannot be set off against funds they hold purely as fiduciary.³

Serving as trustee, executor or personal representative, from offices in AR, FL, GA, NC and TX¹⁰