Estate planning and settlement at Chevy Chase Trust
Name beneficiaries in branch, fund a trust in branch, and report a death at 1-240-497-5000
How your Chevy Chase Trust investment accounts transfer at death depends on how each one is titled and whether a beneficiary is on file. Of those, 6 can name a trust as beneficiary or be retitled into a trust. Getting these details right keeps assets out of probate and ensures they reach the intended recipients.
At Chevy Chase Trust, beneficiary designations are managed in branch, by phone, and by mail. Accounts can also be retitled into a trust to keep them out of probate entirely.
Chevy Chase Trust has documented procedures for both preparing accounts during your lifetime and handling claims when an account holder passes away.
Beneficiaries and trust funding
How to update beneficiaries in-branch, fund a trust in-branch, and review 7 account types at Chevy Chase Trust.
Preparing your estate →Death claim process
Report the death to Chevy Chase Trust's Estate Settlement at 1-240-497-5000. The page lists the steps and the documents to send.
When someone dies →Chevy Chase Trust's Planning & Fiduciary Services can answer questions about beneficiaries, trusts, or death claims at 1-240-497-5000.
Frequently asked questions
Only through your Senior Trust Officer, and no. Chevy Chase Trust publishes no beneficiary or TOD form anywhere on its website, and the Wealth Access portal at cct.wealthaccess.com is reporting-only -- holdings, taxlot detail, transaction history covering up to 17 months, statements, e-statement enrollment, and Excel or Quicken export. Every designation change starts with a call to your Senior Trust Officer (or the Bethesda office at (240) 497-5000, McLean/Tysons at (571) 622-1200, or the client service line at 1-888-940-2282, 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. EST Monday through Friday), who supplies the paperwork for your registration; you sign and return it, and the change is processed against the custody records. One common misreading is worth flagging: the firm's FAQ does promise that a request "verified with the Senior Trust Officer will be processed within two (2) business days," but that sentence is about adding or changing which ACCOUNTS you can view in Chevy Chase Trust Online -- it is not a beneficiary-change turnaround, and the firm publishes none. The upside of the advisor-mediated model is that the Planning Group checks a designation against your will, trust, and charitable plan rather than processing it as a standalone transaction.
A controlled scan of the firm's entire public website and its March 2026 Form ADV Part 2A brochure on 2026-09-11 found no IRA, 401(k), rollover, or other retirement-account product offered under the Chevy Chase Trust name -- the published offering is separately managed investment accounts, trust accounts, fiduciary services, financial and estate planning, and family wealth services, so a client holding an IRA elsewhere should treat that account's beneficiary designation as a separate exercise and bring the statements to the planning review. On documents, the firm is not a law firm: its published estate planning service says it will "Review legal documents," "Review and advise on estate planning and charitable giving strategies," "Keep current with tax law changes and advise accordingly," and "Work with you and your counsel to implement your plan." Drafting and execution stay with your own attorney. The review that catches most problems is Phase 1 of the firm's financial planning process, which gathers legal documents and asset statements "including assets outside of our supervision" -- that is where an unfunded trust, a stale beneficiary designation, or an untitled piece of real property surfaces.
Sources
Data sourced from Chevy Chase Trust primary sources (17 pages reviewed). How we research.
Chevy Chase Trust customer support
Chevy Chase Trust Client Services (via your Senior Trust Officer)
Phone
McLean / Tysons, VA office
Client service line (firm FAQ)
Chevy Chase Trust Online login help desk
Hours
Mailing address
Website
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