How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Firefighters First

A POD designation does not apply to an IRA. An IRA is governed by its own separate beneficiary designation.¹

The form lists primary and contingent beneficiaries, each with a share percentage. Beneficiaries listed with no share percentage are treated as sharing equally.²

Multiple POD beneficiaries take equal shares and own the funds jointly without rights of survivorship.¹

The Designation / Change of Beneficiary form must be signed by all owners on the account. Separate forms are needed for each account if the owners differ within one membership.²

Completed by all owners on the account. Available to download.²

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Under the Account Disclosures, a POD account is payable first to the credit union to the extent of any matured or unmatured debt the owner owes it, and second to the POD payees.⁴

If a POD beneficiary dies before the member, the Account Disclosures make it the member's responsibility to notify the credit union and change the account.⁴

The credit union has no obligation to notify a beneficiary that an account exists. Telling a person they have been named is the member's responsibility.¹

Beneficiary changes are not among the self-service forms available in online banking or the FireFirstCU app.⁵

The Trust Account Application and Agreement states on its face that it is not to be used for Totten trusts or POD designations.⁶

The Trust Account Application and Agreement states on its face that it is not to be used for Uniform Transfers to Minors Act accounts.⁶

Completed by every trustor and every trustee. Available to download.⁶

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Available to download. Must be notarized.⁷

For a revocable trust, one or more trustors must be members of the credit union.¹

For an irrevocable trust, either the trustor or the beneficiary must be a member. Where there are several, all trustors or all beneficiaries must be members.¹

Firefighters First does not take a copy of the trust document. The application states that the credit union has not received a copy of the trust instrument and shall in no event be liable for its contents.⁶

The Account Disclosures say the credit union is not required to keep a trust instrument in its files.⁴

If a trust borrows from the credit union and a third party such as a title company needs to see the trust, the trustees hand the document over in a sealed envelope and the credit union forwards it unopened.¹

The Trust Account Application and Agreement will not be approved unless successor trustees are designated, in order of succession.⁶

If all named trustees and successor trustees die, resign or become incapacitated, or the credit union receives conflicting instructions, the application lets it interplead the funds and deduct its attorneys' fees from the trust account.⁶

Any change in trustors, trustees, successor trustees or beneficiaries requires a new Trust Account Application and Agreement and a new Trustee's Certification of Trust before it takes effect.^{6, 7}

Trust administration and professional trustee or executor services, in partnership with the credit union¹