How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at First Horizon
Beneficiaries are managed in branch, by phone or by mail. Trust paperwork is taken in branch or by mail
Preparing your First Horizon accounts for estate transfer involves two primary strategies: designating beneficiaries on individual accounts and, where supported, retitling accounts into a revocable living trust. Both approaches bypass probate, but they work differently depending on the account type.
Across 14 product types, First Horizon accounts vary in how they transfer at death. The sections below walk through Payable on Death (POD) designations, trust funding options, and which products support each method.
Beneficiary form at First Horizon
POD beneficiary designation paperwork.
- Full legal name and Social Security number for each beneficiary
- Account information and government-issued ID details
- Ask to add or update POD beneficiaries on your deposit accounts
- Enter your account information and beneficiary details
- Include the full legal name and Social Security number for each beneficiary
- Sign it
Required Documents
- Your account number
- Government-issued ID. A photo ID at a banking center
- Full legal name and Social Security number of each beneficiary
- POD beneficiary designation paperwork, completed and signed (by mail)
- Certification of Trust or complete trust agreement
- Government-issued ID for all trustees
- Trust tax identification number (EIN), or the grantor's Social Security number for a revocable trust
- Fill in the trust name, date established, trustee names, and the EIN or grantor's Social Security number
- Include a copy of the Certification of Trust or the complete trust agreement
- Include copies of government-issued ID for all trustees
Required Documents
- Certification of Trust or full trust agreement. Either is accepted. By mail, a copy is included
- Government-issued ID (for every trustee). By mail, copies are included
- Trust tax identification number. An EIN, or the grantor's Social Security number for a revocable trust
- Current account statements or account numbers
- Trust name, date established and trustee names (by mail)
- Full legal name and Social Security number for each beneficiary
- Account information and government-issued ID details
- Ask to add or update POD beneficiaries on your deposit accounts
- Enter your account information and beneficiary details
- Include the full legal name and Social Security number for each beneficiary
- Sign it
Required Documents
- Your account number
- Government-issued ID. A photo ID at a banking center
- Full legal name and Social Security number of each beneficiary
- POD beneficiary designation paperwork, completed and signed (by mail)
- Certification of Trust or complete trust agreement
- Government-issued ID for all trustees
- Trust tax identification number (EIN), or the grantor's Social Security number for a revocable trust
- Fill in the trust name, date established, trustee names, and the EIN or grantor's Social Security number
- Include a copy of the Certification of Trust or the complete trust agreement
- Include copies of government-issued ID for all trustees
Required Documents
- Certification of Trust or full trust agreement. Either is accepted. By mail, a copy is included
- Government-issued ID (for every trustee). By mail, copies are included
- Trust tax identification number. An EIN, or the grantor's Social Security number for a revocable trust
- Current account statements or account numbers
- Trust name, date established and trustee names (by mail)
- Full legal name and Social Security number for each beneficiary
- Account information and government-issued ID details
- Ask to add or update POD beneficiaries on your deposit accounts
- Enter your account information and beneficiary details
- Include the full legal name and Social Security number for each beneficiary
- Sign it
Required Documents
- Your account number
- Government-issued ID. A photo ID at a banking center
- Full legal name and Social Security number of each beneficiary
- POD beneficiary designation paperwork, completed and signed (by mail)
- Full legal name and Social Security number for each beneficiary
- Account information and government-issued ID details
- Ask to add or update POD beneficiaries on your deposit accounts
- Enter your account information and beneficiary details
- Include the full legal name and Social Security number for each beneficiary
- Sign it
Required Documents
- Your account number
- Government-issued ID. A photo ID at a banking center
- Full legal name and Social Security number of each beneficiary
- POD beneficiary designation paperwork, completed and signed (by mail)
- Certification of Trust or complete trust agreement
- Government-issued ID for all trustees
- Trust tax identification number (EIN), or the grantor's Social Security number for a revocable trust
- Fill in the trust name, date established, trustee names, and the EIN or grantor's Social Security number
- Include a copy of the Certification of Trust or the complete trust agreement
- Include copies of government-issued ID for all trustees
Required Documents
- Certification of Trust or full trust agreement. Either is accepted. By mail, a copy is included
- Government-issued ID (for every trustee). By mail, copies are included
- Trust tax identification number. An EIN, or the grantor's Social Security number for a revocable trust
- Current account statements or account numbers
- Trust name, date established and trustee names (by mail)
What First Horizon says about beneficiaries and trusts
Each section is First Horizon's own statement, with the document it comes from numbered under Sources.
Who can be named1
- A trust, payable-on-death accounts
A trust may be named as the POD beneficiary of a First Horizon deposit account.1
How many beneficiaries, and how shares are split
- Payable-on-death account
If two or more beneficiaries survive, they own the account in equal shares, without right of survivorship. First Horizon's POD form does not split the account into percentages.2
Beneficiary forms First Horizon issues1
- POD beneficiary designation paperwork
Completed by the account owner. Sent by the institution on request.1
What First Horizon's agreement says about beneficiaries5
- What the owner keeps while living
The person or persons who created a POD account may change beneficiaries and withdraw all or part of the funds at any time. The beneficiary has no say while an owner is alive.2
A POD beneficiary can withdraw only after every person who created the account has died, and only if the beneficiary is then living.2
- A minor as beneficiary
A POD beneficiary cannot withdraw where the bank is required by state law to pay a parent, custodian or guardian instead, which is what happens when the beneficiary is a minor.2
- Claims against the account
A POD beneficiary's interest is subject to any offsets or claims First Horizon could have asserted against the owner or the owner's estate, so an unpaid debt to the bank comes out first.2
- Joint accounts
If two or more people create a POD account, they own it jointly with survivorship. The POD beneficiaries take only after the last owner dies.2
First Horizon offers a Joint (Multiple Party) Account With Survivorship and one With No Survivorship (As Tenants In Common). The survivorship version passes the balance to the survivor "even if the decedent had a will directing disposition to someone else."2
- A designation and a will
A POD designation controls the account regardless of what the owner's will says.1
Which accounts a trust can hold1
- Trust account
Under the Depositor Agreement's Fiduciary Accounts clause, an account may be "opened and maintained by a person or persons named as a trustee under a written trust agreement," so a deposit account can be held in the name of a revocable living trust.2
Trust account forms First Horizon issues1
- Trust retitling paperwork
Sent by the institution on request.1
What First Horizon says about trust accounts2
- Who signs for the trust
Funds in an account with more than one fiduciary can be withdrawn on the signature of one fiduciary "unless the contrary is noted on the signature card." Putting "and" between co-trustee names in the account title is "not in and of itself sufficient notice of such contrary intent."2
- Review of the trust document
By opening the account, the bank "is not acting in the capacity of a trustee in connection with the trust nor do we undertake any obligation to monitor or enforce the terms of the trust or letters."2
Accounts handled elsewhere1
- First Horizon Advisors / LPL Financial
Investment accounts held through First Horizon Advisors, which follow LPL's separate retitling procedures1
Sources2
Sources
Data sourced from First Horizon primary sources (18 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these First Horizon instructions
Download instructions for the whole estateA printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details — verified against First Horizon primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
First Horizon estate support
Trust and Estate Planning (trust services provided by First Horizon Bank itself; First Horizon Wealth Management is the marketing name)
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Mailing address
Website
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