How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Consumers CU
Beneficiaries are managed in branch or by phone. Trust paperwork is taken in branch or by phone
The goal with your Consumers CU accounts is to make sure every account has a transfer mechanism in place—either a POD beneficiary designation or trust ownership. Because Consumers CU is a membership-based institution, trust retitling must maintain the membership eligibility requirement. Accounts without either one pass through the estate, by probate or the state's small-estate procedure.
Consumers CU has 26 product types, and the estate transfer rules differ across them. Some support Payable on Death (POD) designations, some can be retitled into a trust, and others pass through the estate if nothing is set up. Each is covered below.
Beneficiary form at Consumers CU
Account Card or Account Change Card.
- Full legal name
- Date of birth
- Social Security number
- Relationship to the account owner
Required Documents
- Beneficiary's full legal name
- Beneficiary's date of birth
- Beneficiary's Social Security number
- Beneficiary's relationship to the account owner
- Valid, unexpired government-issued photo ID (at a branch)
Required Documents
- Key pages from the trust, or an Affidavit or Certificate of Trust. Showing the trust name, grantors, trustees, conditions for succession, Trustee(s) Powers Clause and signature page. CCU does not require the entire instrument; a Certification of Trust is also taken
- The trust's Tax Identification Number (TIN)
- Valid government-issued ID (for each grantor and each trustee)
- CCU account documentation or a signed Account Change Card (for the accounts being opened under or converted to the trust)
- Full legal name
- Date of birth
- Social Security number
- Relationship to the account owner
Required Documents
- Beneficiary's full legal name
- Beneficiary's date of birth
- Beneficiary's Social Security number
- Beneficiary's relationship to the account owner
- Valid, unexpired government-issued photo ID (at a branch)
Required Documents
- Key pages from the trust, or an Affidavit or Certificate of Trust. Showing the trust name, grantors, trustees, conditions for succession, Trustee(s) Powers Clause and signature page. CCU does not require the entire instrument; a Certification of Trust is also taken
- The trust's Tax Identification Number (TIN)
- Valid government-issued ID (for each grantor and each trustee)
- CCU account documentation or a signed Account Change Card (for the accounts being opened under or converted to the trust)
- Full legal name
- Date of birth
- Social Security number
- Relationship to the account owner
Required Documents
- Beneficiary's full legal name
- Beneficiary's date of birth
- Beneficiary's Social Security number
- Beneficiary's relationship to the account owner
- Valid, unexpired government-issued photo ID (at a branch)
What Consumers CU says about beneficiaries and trusts
Each section is Consumers CU's own statement, with the document it comes from numbered under Sources.
Which accounts take a beneficiary4
- Payable-on-death account
POD designations are available on deposit accounts: checking, savings, money market and certificates.1
- IRA
POD and trust beneficiary designations do not apply to IRAs. An IRA carries its own beneficiary designation, a separate document.1
- Credit card
A credit card has no beneficiary designation. Questions about payment protection go to CCU by phone.2
- Loan
A loan has no beneficiary designation. Questions about payment protection go to CCU by phone.2
Who can be named1
- A trust, IRAs
A trust is named as IRA beneficiary through the IRA beneficiary designation.1
How many beneficiaries, and how shares are split
- All accounts
When the last owner dies, the account is payable to all surviving POD or trust beneficiaries, who take jointly in equal shares without rights of survivorship, unless state law provides otherwise or CCU documents a different split. Primary and contingent beneficiaries can be named.1
What a designation takes to be effective
- All accounts
CCU may require any account change to be evidenced by a signed Account Card or Account Change Card before it takes effect.1
Beneficiary forms Consumers CU issues1
- Account Card or Account Change Card
Completed by the account owner. Provided at a branch.1
What Consumers CU's agreement says about beneficiaries3
- Joint accounts
Joint accounts include rights of survivorship unless the Account Card or the online application says otherwise. On one owner's death all sums pass to the surviving owners.1
- Claims against the account
A surviving joint owner's interest remains subject to CCU's statutory lien for the deceased owner's obligations and to any security interest or pledge the deceased owner granted, even if the survivor never consented to it.1
- Who can see the designation
CCU is not obligated to notify a POD beneficiary that an account exists or that their interest has vested.1
Which accounts a trust can hold1
- IRA
IRAs cannot be retitled to a trust.4
What Consumers CU says about trust accounts4
- Membership
CCU requires a Membership Savings Account to be opened for the creator of the trust before a trust account can be opened.4
Members must keep a $5 Membership Savings balance to retain membership.4
- Online access
Trust accounts appear alongside personal accounts in Digital Banking, but adding or removing accounts from a trust must be done at a branch or over the phone.4
- The institution's right to refuse a designation or an account title
CCU may refuse instructions for a trust, will or court-ordered account arrangement where it believes they expose it to claims.1
- Indemnity the owner or a trustee gives
CCU may require indemnification or a bond before following instructions for a trust, will or court-ordered account arrangement where it believes it is exposed to claims.1
Not in Consumers CU's published guidance2
- A beneficiary form to download
- An online way to name a beneficiary
Sources
(2)·
Data sourced from Consumers CU primary sources (15 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these Consumers CU instructions
A printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details, verified against Consumers CU primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
Consumers CU estate support
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