How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at First Commonwealth

An "in trust for" or "trustee for" beneficiary can be named on checking, savings, money market and CD accounts. The agreement calls this In-Trust-For / Informal Ownership.¹

Beneficiary designations on deposit accounts are added in branch on the signature card.²

IRA beneficiaries are named through the IRA agreement, not the signature card. This covers Traditional, Roth and SEP IRAs, including IRA CDs and IRA Savings.²

First Commonwealth treats joint ownership as joint tenants with right of survivorship, not as tenants in common.¹

A trust may be named as the beneficiary of an IRA where permitted.³

A trust may be named as the beneficiary of a Coverdell ESA where permitted.³

A trust may be named as the beneficiary of an HSA where permitted.³

If two or more named in-trust-for beneficiaries survive, they own the account in equal shares, without right of survivorship.¹

The designation is made on a new signature card signed with the bank. Under the agreement, the most recent executed signature card determines the ownership of the account.¹

The people who created an in-trust-for account still own it during life. They can change beneficiaries, change account types, and withdraw all or part of the funds at any time.¹

An in-trust-for beneficiary can withdraw only after every person who created the account has died, and only if the beneficiary is then living.¹

The designation takes effect when First Commonwealth records it.²

On a joint account, all sums in the account on the date of death belong to the surviving owners and are not part of the deceased owner's estate.¹

If the bank believes there is a dispute between joint owners, or receives inconsistent instructions from them, it may suspend or close the account, require a court order to act, or require all joint owners to agree in writing to any transaction.¹

The bank's right of setoff and security interest for a debt owed to it at death applies even where a surviving joint owner, a "payable on death" payee, or an "in trust for" or "trustee for" beneficiary has rights to the account.¹

Confidence Checking, the Hometown Checking tiers, Hometown and American Dream Savings, the money market accounts and CDs can be held under the trust.³

The agreement's "Fiduciary or Agency Ownership" is an account held by an attorney-in-fact, agent, guardian, personal representative, trustee, custodian or other fiduciary for the benefit of one or more beneficiaries under a written agreement.¹

The agreement distinguishes this formal trust account from an informal "in trust for" account, where the owner keeps the account and the named parties are only beneficiaries at death. Funding a revocable trust uses the formal trust account.¹

An IRA cannot be retitled to a trust.³

A Coverdell ESA cannot be retitled to a trust.³

An HSA cannot be retitled to a trust.³

The bank may require a copy of the trust agreement or other documentation so it can confirm the authority of the trustees or agents.¹

First Commonwealth acts only as custodian of the trust funds on deposit. It is under no obligation to act as trustee or to inquire into the powers or duties of the trustees or agents.¹

The agreement waives the early withdrawal penalty when a CD, other than a Retirement CD, is retitled into a living trust without moving the funds out of the bank and with no change in term or rate.¹

Revocable, irrevocable, testamentary, asset protection, life insurance and charitable trusts, and estate settlement⁴