How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Citadel
Beneficiaries are managed in branch. Trust paperwork is taken in branch
Preparing your Citadel accounts for estate transfer involves two key steps: designating beneficiaries on each account and, where appropriate, retitling accounts into a trust. Because Citadel is a membership-based institution, trust retitling must maintain the membership eligibility requirement. Accounts with Payable on Death designations or trust ownership bypass probate entirely.
The transfer rules at Citadel vary across 9 accounts. Below is a breakdown of beneficiary options, trust funding, and which products support each method.
- Full legal name
- Date of birth
- Relationship to the account owner
Required Documents
- Beneficiary's full legal name
- Beneficiary's date of birth
- Beneficiary's relationship to the account owner
- Government-issued photo ID (at a branch)
- Photo ID (in a Video Connect session). Citadel sends a 6-digit text message code for verification
- The complete trust agreement or a Certification of Trust
- Government-issued photo ID for the Settlor and every trustee
- Social Security numbers for the Settlor and trustees
- The tax identification number the trust reports under
Required Documents
- Complete trust agreement or Certification of Trust. A complete revocable living trust agreement or a Certification of Trust, acceptable to Citadel
- Government-issued photo ID (for the Settlor and each trustee)
- Social Security numbers (for the Settlor and each trustee)
- Tax identification number the trust reports under
- Full legal name
- Date of birth
- Relationship to the account owner
Required Documents
- Beneficiary's full legal name
- Beneficiary's date of birth
- Beneficiary's relationship to the account owner
- Government-issued photo ID (at a branch)
- Photo ID (in a Video Connect session). Citadel sends a 6-digit text message code for verification
- The complete trust agreement or a Certification of Trust
- Government-issued photo ID for the Settlor and every trustee
- Social Security numbers for the Settlor and trustees
- The tax identification number the trust reports under
Required Documents
- Complete trust agreement or Certification of Trust. A complete revocable living trust agreement or a Certification of Trust, acceptable to Citadel
- Government-issued photo ID (for the Settlor and each trustee)
- Social Security numbers (for the Settlor and each trustee)
- Tax identification number the trust reports under
- Full legal name
- Date of birth
- Relationship to the account owner
Required Documents
- Beneficiary's full legal name
- Beneficiary's date of birth
- Beneficiary's relationship to the account owner
- Government-issued photo ID (at a branch)
- Photo ID (in a Video Connect session). Citadel sends a 6-digit text message code for verification
What Citadel says about beneficiaries and trusts
Each section is Citadel's own statement, with the document it comes from numbered under Sources.
Which accounts take a beneficiary3
- Payable-on-death account
POD designations are available on checking, savings, money market, and certificate accounts. The change is made in person or through Video Connect.1
- IRA
IRA beneficiary designations are administered by Ascensus, Citadel's IRA administrator. Citadel initiates the paperwork and Ascensus holds the record.1
If no IRA beneficiary is named, the IRA funds go to the decedent's estate.1
- Trust account
Citadel requires every trust account to name a beneficiary. A trust account beneficiary takes only if the settlor is deceased.2
Who can be named1
- A charity or nonprofit
A charity or nonprofit beneficiary must be a validly constituted, registered or licensed entity under state law.1
How many beneficiaries, and how shares are split
- Payable-on-death account
Multiple POD beneficiaries are paid in equal shares unless the owner designated otherwise.2
What a designation takes to be effective
What Citadel's agreement says about beneficiaries5
- What the owner keeps while living
POD beneficiaries "have no rights to or interest in the Account during Your lifetime."2
- A beneficiary who dies first
A POD beneficiary takes only if the beneficiary is alive and the owner and every joint owner are deceased.1
On a trust account, if the trust beneficiary dies first, the agreement provides that the trust is terminated.2
- No beneficiary survives
If no named POD beneficiary survives the owner, the funds are paid "to the party or parties as required by applicable law."2
- Changing or revoking a designation
For a trust account, the settlor may change the beneficiary at any time "by providing Us adequate proof of such change in a manner acceptable to the Credit Union."2
- When a designation takes effect
Citadel pays out against "the POD designation then on file."2
What Citadel says about trust accounts4
- Membership
For a revocable trust account, "the individual establishing the Trust (the 'Settlor') must be a member of the Credit Union."2
A one-time $1.00 deposit into a savings account activates Citadel membership.5
- Review of the trust document
Citadel opens a trust account "only if the Trust documentation presented by You to the Credit Union is acceptable to Us."2
If Citadel decides a legal review of the trust is needed, the member pays the actual costs of counsel of Citadel's choosing, "whether or not We allow You to open an Account."2
- Successor trustees
Citadel requires an updated Certification of Trust after a trustee dies.2
- Which state governs the account
Eligibility is subject to Citadel's field of membership and to the state law governing the trust's validity and administration, which Citadel notes "may differ depending on the settlor's residence, the situs of the Trust, and the location where the Account is maintained."2
Accounts handled elsewhere2
- Citadel Wealth Management (Cetera Investment Services)
Trust retitling of Citadel investment accounts1
Phone: 1-610-380-6000
Not in Citadel's published guidance3
- An online way to name a beneficiary
- A beneficiary form to download
- An itemized trust-account document checklist
Sources
Data sourced from Citadel primary sources (20 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these Citadel instructions
Download instructions for the whole estateA printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details — verified against Citadel primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
Citadel estate support
Citadel Wealth Management (Cetera Investment Services)
Phone
Mailing address
Website
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