Estate planning at BNY Mellon

Yes. BNY Wealth is one of the nation's oldest professional trustee services, with over 200 years of trust administration experience. BNY Wealth can serve as professional trustee, directed trustee, or custodian for revocable living trusts, irrevocable trusts, testamentary trusts, dynasty trusts, directed trusts, asset protection trusts, GRATs, generation-skipping trusts, and marital trusts. Delaware trust structures are available for favorable tax treatment (Delaware does not tax accumulated income and capital gains in trusts with non-resident beneficiaries). For investors using BNY Investments (mutual fund or brokerage accounts), trust titling is also available at lower minimums.

BNY Wealth has specialized expertise in a broad range of trust structures used in estate planning: revocable living trusts, irrevocable trusts, dynasty trusts, directed trusts, asset protection trusts, Delaware statutory trusts, Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs), Generation Skipping Trusts (GSTs), marital (QTIP) trusts, and testamentary trusts. The firm also offers estate settlement services and can coordinate tax preparation, investment management, custody, and distribution on behalf of estate beneficiaries. BNY Wealth reports a 96% overall client satisfaction rating.

BNY Wealth is structured for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. The firm applies a minimum annual advisory fee of $25,000, making it best suited for clients with significant investable assets. For investors who want access to BNY-family investment products without the full wealth management engagement, BNY Investments offers mutual fund accounts (no stated minimum), brokerage accounts ($10,000 minimum for non-IRA), and the BNY Managed Asset Program (starting at $25,000).

Yes. BNY allows a trust to be named as beneficiary of Traditional, Roth, and Rollover IRAs. Additional documentation may be required when a trust is the named beneficiary. IRA accounts themselves cannot be retitled to a trust -- only beneficiary designations are available. Contact BNY Investments at 1-800-645-6561 (mutual fund IRAs) or 1-800-843-5466 (brokerage IRAs) for details.

Active Wealth is BNY Wealth's integrated advisory approach that coordinates investing, tax planning, estate planning, banking, and lending into one cohesive strategy. BNY Wealth reports $339 billion in total private client assets as of 3/31/2026. The framework is designed for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families, with a minimum annual advisory fee of $25,000.