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What happens to your Greenlight accounts when you die

No beneficiary or trust option on any account, so they pass through the estate

Greenlight does not currently support beneficiary designations, transfer-on-death registrations, or trust account titling on any account type. All Greenlight investment accounts pass through the estate at death and may require probate.

When an account holder dies, the executor or administrator will need to contact Greenlight with a death certificate and legal authority documents to claim account balances. The process and required documents are covered on the death claim page.

No beneficiary form at Greenlight

Beneficiaries are named by phone.

Greenlight does not currently support beneficiary designations (POD or TOD) on any account type. All accounts transfer through the estate at death and may require probate.

1
Call Greenlight support at 888-483-2645 (24/7), text 404-974-3024, or email support@greenlight.com. Greenlight is app-only, so there is no branch to visit and no beneficiary form to mail
2
Ask whether a TOD designation is available on the Alpaca-custodied Invest Account and whether any POD option exists on the CFSB-issued Card Account

Why trust accounts are not available

Greenlight does not support retitling accounts into a trust, naming a trust as beneficiary, or any other probate-avoidance mechanism. Account balances transfer through the estate at death.

Greenlight Debit Card (Card Account)Greenlight SavingsSupported Adult Card Account (Family Shield)

Greenlight Debit Card (Card Account)

Probate Required

Greenlight Savings

Probate Required

Supported Adult Card Account (Family Shield)

Probate Required

What Greenlight says about beneficiaries and trusts

Each section is Greenlight's own statement, with the document it comes from numbered under Sources.

Which accounts take a beneficiary3

Stored balance

The Card Account and Savings take no POD designation. Their balances are prepaid-card records held in a pooled deposit account at Community Federal Savings Bank (CFSB) and its Network Banks, in the Primary Accountholder's name.1

The CFSB Cardholder Agreement provides no death-beneficiary mechanism.1

The Greenlight kids' cards that GreenState Credit Union gives its members are not GreenState deposits and carry no POD option. They sit at Community Federal Savings Bank under Greenlight's single Primary Accountholder structure.2

Investment account

The Invest Account takes no TOD designation, and the Greenlight Advisors Terms of Service provide no death-beneficiary mechanism. The account is opened at Alpaca Securities, LLC through the Greenlight app, so a TOD form cannot be filed with Alpaca independently.3

A child's "Investing for Kids" portfolio is owned by the parent, so a beneficiary cannot be named on it and the child has no automatic claim to it. The parent also files the taxes on it.3

Joint account with survivorship

No account is held jointly: every account sits under a single Primary Accountholder, and children and Supported Adults are cardholders, not owners.1

Which accounts a trust can hold2

Stored balance

Card Account funds sit in a pooled deposit account at Community Federal Savings Bank or a Network Bank, and cannot be titled to a trust through the Greenlight app.1

Investment account

Invest Account assets sit in Alpaca Securities, LLC custody, and cannot be titled to a trust through the Greenlight app.3

What Greenlight says about trust accounts1

Whether a new account is opened

Greenlight does not open accounts in the name of a trust or retitle an existing account into one. The CFSB Cardholder Agreement and the Greenlight Advisors Terms of Service contemplate only an individual Primary Accountholder.1, 3

The Greenlight Advisors Terms of Service state that rights under the agreement are personal and may not be assigned "by operation of law or otherwise."3

Accounts handled elsewhere2

Community Federal Savings Bank (CFSB)

Issues the Card Account and holds Card Account and Savings funds in a pooled deposit account4, 1

Alpaca Securities, LLC

Custodian of Invest Account assets3

Not in Greenlight's published guidance5

  • What the owner provides to name a beneficiary
  • A beneficiary designation form
  • An online way to name a beneficiary
  • A beneficiary article in the help center
  • A certification of trust process

Sources4

  1. 1.CFSB Cardholder Agreement
  2. 2.GreenState Credit Union planning record (old specialRequirements text on Greenlight cards)
  3. 3.Greenlight Advisors Terms of Service
  4. 4.Greenlight website footer
SimplyTrustSimplyTrust Editorial·

Sources

Data sourced from Greenlight primary sources (15 pages reviewed). How we research.

Download these Greenlight instructions

Download instructions for the whole estate

A printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details — verified against Greenlight primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.

Greenlight estate support

Greenlight Customer Support

Text support

Hours

24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Mailing address

Greenlight Financial Technology, Inc., 303 Peachtree St. NE, Suite 4300, Atlanta, GA 30308

Estate requests go through general customer service.

Verified Sep 2026

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