How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Capital One

A designation applies to every account listed on one form. Different beneficiary splits require a separate form for each group of accounts.¹

An account already in trust ownership is not an eligible deposit account for POD beneficiaries.²

A business account is not an eligible deposit account for POD beneficiaries.²

An IRA is not an eligible deposit account for POD beneficiaries.²

IRA beneficiary changes use the separate IRA Beneficiary Designation form.³

Beneficiaries must be individuals. The 360 Checking agreement states that only an individual may be designated as a beneficiary.⁴

A trust can never be a POD beneficiary on a Capital One deposit account.⁴

Each beneficiary needs a valid Tax ID, a date of birth, and a physical address in the 50 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands or the U.S. Virgin Islands. P.O. boxes are rejected.²

Up to 10 POD beneficiaries can be named on each eligible deposit account. When all owners have died, Capital One distributes the remaining funds to the then-living beneficiaries in equal shares.^{2, 1}

The paper form requires notarization unless a Capital One branch associate witnesses your signature instead.¹

The account holder authorizing the change must be at least 18 years old.²

The IRA Beneficiary Designation form takes a witness signature rather than a notary. Capital One says its spousal-consent block should be considered if the trust or the IRA owner's residence is in a community or marital property state.³

For payable-on-death accounts. Completed by the account holder. Available to download.¹

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Submitting a new POD form revokes every prior death-beneficiary designation for the accounts listed, so existing beneficiaries you want to keep must be listed again. Leaving page two blank deletes all current designations on the listed accounts.¹

Converting an account to trust ownership removes any beneficiaries previously added to it.⁵

Beneficiaries are recognized only if the account holder recorded them with Capital One before death. A will cannot add one afterward.¹

The distribution to beneficiaries is subject to Capital One's right to charge the account for anything a deceased owner, co-owner or POD beneficiary owes it.¹

If a beneficiary is under 18 when they would be entitled to the funds, Capital One pays that share to the minor's statutory or court-appointed custodian, not to the minor.¹

Capital One lists 360 CDs of all terms among the accounts eligible for conversion to trust ownership.⁵

Business accounts cannot be converted to trust ownership.⁵

IRAs cannot be converted to trust ownership.⁵

Completed by every trustee. Available to download. Must be notarized.⁵

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Available to download.⁶

A Capital One trust account cannot be opened directly. Capital One states you must convert an existing account, or open a new personal account and then convert it.⁵

Only three trustees fit, and the grantor has to be one of them. No one under 18 can be a trustee, and all trustees have equal and independent access to the account.⁵

Any trustee who is not already an account holder is invited to join the trust account by email.⁵

The 360 Checking agreement says Capital One cannot honor multiple-signature requirements. If the trust requires co-trustees to act jointly, each co-trustee is treated as able to act alone and is responsible for obtaining the others' consent beforehand.⁴

Each co-trustee, not Capital One, owes the fiduciary duty to the trust beneficiaries.⁴

Capital One sends trust-specific documents, such as tax forms, to the trust street address on the conversion form. That address does not follow a change to the address in your profile; changing it takes a call to Capital One, which routes the request to its back-office Trust team.⁵