Estate planning and settlement at BCU

How your BCU accounts transfer at death depends on how each one is set up. As a membership-based credit union, BCU community charter covers Cook (north of 95th Street), DuPage, Kane, Lake, and McHenry counties in Illinois; Kenosha County in Wisconsin; Anoka, Dakota, Hennepin, and Ramsey counties in Minnesota; and Puerto Rico. Minnesota was added since the 2026-07-12 pass. Membership is also available through employment with a partner employer group (permanent, temporary, or contract), through a partnered association, professional organization, or alumni group, through immediate family of a member, or through the Life. Money. You. program — none of which is geographically limited, so BCU members are found nationwide. That geographic spread is the practical point for an estate: under CMSA Provision 30 an account is governed by the law of the state of the BRANCH OR SERVICE CENTER where it was opened in person, defaulting to Illinois law only for accounts opened by mail, phone, or online — so the small-estate threshold BCU applies is not automatically Illinois's. With 19 account types, the transfer rules vary—getting the right designations in place now prevents delays and court involvement later.

Beneficiary designations at BCU can be managed online, in branch, by phone, and by mail. Trust funding is also available, allowing families to retitle accounts into the name of a revocable living trust.