How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at BOK Financial
Beneficiaries are managed in branch, by phone or by mail. Trust paperwork is taken in branch, by phone or by mail
Preparing your BOK Financial accounts for estate transfer involves two primary strategies: designating beneficiaries on individual accounts and, where supported, retitling accounts into a revocable living trust. Both approaches bypass probate, but they work differently depending on the account type.
Across 18 product types, BOK Financial accounts vary in how they transfer at death. The sections below walk through Payable on Death (POD) designations, trust funding options, and which products support each method.
Beneficiary form at BOK Financial
POD beneficiary designation form (for payable-on-death accounts) and IRA beneficiary designation form (for IRAs).
- Full legal name, date of birth, and Social Security number for each beneficiary
- Percentage allocations for each beneficiary (must total 100%)
- For trusts as beneficiary: trust name, date established, and tax ID number
- Full legal name, date of birth, SSN, and relationship for each beneficiary
- Full legal name, date of birth, and Social Security number
- Relationship to account holder
- Allocation percentages (must total 100%)
Required Documents
- Government-issued photo ID (at a branch)
- Each beneficiary's full legal name, date of birth and Social Security number
- Each beneficiary's relationship to the account holder (by phone or by mail)
- Percentage allocation for each beneficiary (in a branch or by mail). The percentages must total 100%
- Trust name, date established and tax ID number (for a trust as beneficiary)
- POD beneficiary designation form, completed and signed (by mail)
- Full trust agreement or Certificate of Trust
- Government-issued ID for all trustees
- Trust EIN if the trust has its own tax identification number
- Full trust agreement or Certificate of Trust
- Government-issued ID copies for all trustees
- Copy of the trust agreement or Certificate of Trust
- Government-issued ID copies for all trustees
Required Documents
- Full trust agreement or Certificate of Trust. Either is accepted. By mail, a copy is sent
- Government-issued ID for each trustee. BOK requires two forms of ID, a primary and a secondary, original and current, with no copies or screenshots
- Copies of government-issued ID for each trustee (when forms are returned by phone request or by mail)
- Trust account application or account retitling form, completed
- Trust EIN (if the trust has its own tax identification number)
- Full legal name, date of birth, and Social Security number for each beneficiary
- Percentage allocations for each beneficiary (must total 100%)
- For trusts as beneficiary: trust name, date established, and tax ID number
- Full legal name, date of birth, SSN, and relationship for each beneficiary
- Full legal name, date of birth, and Social Security number
- Relationship to account holder
- Allocation percentages (must total 100%)
Required Documents
- Government-issued photo ID (at a branch)
- Each beneficiary's full legal name, date of birth and Social Security number
- Each beneficiary's relationship to the account holder (by phone or by mail)
- Percentage allocation for each beneficiary (in a branch or by mail). The percentages must total 100%
- Trust name, date established and tax ID number (for a trust as beneficiary)
- POD beneficiary designation form, completed and signed (by mail)
What BOK Financial says about beneficiaries and trusts
Each section is BOK Financial's own statement, with the document it comes from numbered under Sources.
Which accounts take a beneficiary2
- Payable-on-death account
A POD form is obtained from a banker by phone or in a branch, so this designation cannot be completed online.1
- IRA
An IRA beneficiary designation uses a separate form from the POD designation on deposit accounts.2
Who can be named1
- A trust, payable-on-death accounts
A trust can be named as a POD beneficiary on deposit accounts.3
How many beneficiaries, and how shares are split
- Payable-on-death account
The POD form takes a percentage allocation for each beneficiary, and the percentages must total 100%.3
The deposit agreement gives multiple POD beneficiaries "equal, undivided interest in the funds in said Account as joint tenants, with right of survivorship and not as tenants in common."4
Beneficiary forms BOK Financial issues2
- POD beneficiary designation form
For payable-on-death accounts. Completed by the account owner. Sent by the institution on request.1
- IRA beneficiary designation form
For IRAs. Sent by the institution on request.2
What BOK Financial's agreement says about beneficiaries2
- A beneficiary who dies first
Naming more than one POD beneficiary does not create separate shares that pass to each beneficiary's own estate. If one named beneficiary dies first, that share goes to the surviving named beneficiaries.4
- Joint accounts
Under the deposit agreement, a joint account "not otherwise expressly specified on the Signature Card, or, if there is no Signature Card, in our records" is treated as With Survivorship. Tenancy in common must be affirmatively specified.4
Trust account forms BOK Financial issues1
- Trust account application or account retitling form
Sent by the institution on request.3
What BOK Financial says about trust accounts1
- Review of the trust document
The deposit agreement makes a fiduciary signer "solely responsible for acting in accordance with the terms of applicable State law, the will, court order or trust instrument."4
BOK does "not accept any responsibility for examining or insuring compliance," so it will not tell you whether your retitling matches the trust terms.4
Accounts handled elsewhere1
- Advisor Trust Services
Questions from advisors and their clients on whether a trust document lets BOK serve as trustee5
Phone: 1-888-957-6678
Email: rhueser@bokf.com
Not in BOK Financial's published guidance2
- A beneficiary form to download
- An online way to name a beneficiary
Sources5
- 1.Documents and Forms
- 2.IRA beneficiary designation form
- 3.ExpressBank
- 4.Agreements and Disclosures
- 5.Advisor Trust Services
Sources
Data sourced from BOK Financial primary sources (33 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these BOK Financial instructions
Download instructions for the whole estateA printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details — verified against BOK Financial primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
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