How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Fifth Third Bank

Payable-on-death designations are not offered through online banking. Section 2.3 of the Deposit Account Rules records the payable-on-death or In Trust For designation on the signature card.¹

The HSA uses its own form, the HSA Beneficiary Form, and its own rules rather than the signature card.²

Investment accounts at Fifth Third Securities use a separate beneficiary designation, handled by Fifth Third Securities rather than the banking center.³

Retirement accounts at Fifth Third Securities use a separate beneficiary designation, handled by Fifth Third Securities rather than the banking center.³

A trust can be named as a payable-on-death beneficiary using the trust name, the date it was established and its tax ID number.³

Each beneficiary is recorded as primary or contingent, with a share percentage.³

On the HSA Beneficiary Form, primary shares must total 100% and contingent shares must total 100%.²

The account holder signs the new signature card with the banker.³

An HSA account holder married in common law or in a community-property or marital-property state names the spouse as primary beneficiary, or the spouse signs the form’s Spousal Consent section.²

For payable-on-death accounts. Completed by the account holder, with the banker. Provided at a branch.¹

For health savings accounts. Completed by the account holder. Available to download.²

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Completed by the account holder. Sent by the institution on request.³

A new signature-card designation supersedes and revokes any beneficiary named earlier.¹

The Deposit Account Rules say the account holder may withdraw any or all of the balance during life and may revoke the designation, and that the bank may deal with the account holder as if no beneficiary were named.¹

The funds pass to the named beneficiary only if that beneficiary survives the account holder. Fifth Third reserves the right to require satisfactory proof of both the death and the beneficiary’s survival.¹

For brokerage and managed accounts, the banker routes the retitling to Fifth Third Securities.³

Completed by with the banker. Provided at a branch.³

Completed by the current trustees, as the account signers. Provided at a branch.³

Under section 2.4 of the Deposit Account Rules, the trust is the customer, the current trustees are the account signers, and the trustees are responsible for every transaction on the account.¹

If a trustee dies or resigns, the successor trustee appointed by the trust or by court order becomes the trustee, with no need to close and reopen the account.¹

The Deposit Account Rules state that, unless the trust expressly provides otherwise, all trust accounts are revocable by the grantor during the grantor’s life.¹

Under section 2.6, Fifth Third may require any documents it reasonably requests to show authority before opening a trust, estate, guardianship or conservator account, and may block changes and withdrawals until it has them.¹

Beneficiary designations and trust retitling for investment and retirement accounts³

Beneficiary designations for Fifth Third health savings accounts^{2, 3}