How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Kinecta

The Beneficiary Designation form applies to all accounts under the membership number listed on it "unless otherwise indicated, but does not apply to IRAs or Trust Accounts."¹

IRA beneficiaries are named on the separate IRA Beneficiary Designation form, not on the POD Beneficiary Designation form.²

A trust account is not covered by the POD Beneficiary Designation form; it passes under the Certification of Trust instead.¹

A trust can be named as a POD payee on a deposit account. Kinecta asks for the trust name and the date it was established.¹

Multiple primary and multiple contingent POD beneficiaries may be named on a deposit account, with the percentage payable to each. If the percentages are left blank or do not add up to 100%, equal percentages among the surviving beneficiaries are deemed.³

Where more than one POD beneficiary survives, they own the account jointly without right of survivorship, and disbursement is in equal shares or by the percentages stated on the form.³

The form's beneficiary blocks carry a single "SHARES:" field with no primary or contingent split, and its account-agreement paragraph says the funds go "to the surviving beneficiaries equally."¹

The form states "SIGNATURE OF PRIMARY AND ALL JOINT MEMBERS IS REQUIRED," so the primary member and every joint member sign and date it.¹

Completed by the primary member and all joint members. Available to download.¹

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For IRAs. Available to download.²

Beneficiaries cannot be added or changed through Kinecta online banking. The signed paper form is the only route, in branch or by mail.¹

Kinecta states it "does not have any obligation whatsoever to notify any beneficiary of the existence of any account or the vesting of the beneficiary's interest in any account."³

If a POD beneficiary dies before the member, it is the member's responsibility to notify Kinecta and update the designation.³

Under the IRA Beneficiary Designation form, a beneficiary who dies before the owner drops out completely and the remaining beneficiaries' percentage shares increase pro rata.²

On a deposit account, contingent beneficiaries are paid when every primary beneficiary has died.³

Under the IRA Beneficiary Designation form, if no beneficiaries are named the estate becomes the beneficiary.²

On the death of the last account owner, POD funds are payable first to Kinecta to the extent of any outstanding matured or unmatured debts owed to it, and only then to the POD payees.³

A trust account, revocable or irrevocable, is opened under the Trust Membership Application. Kinecta opens the trust account or retitles the existing deposit account into the trust's name.⁴

The booklet treats a fiduciary account as a separate category: a trustee or successor trustee under a written trust agreement, or an executor, administrator, conservator or guardian acting under court order.³

Funds in a fiduciary account may not be pledged as security for a loan. Where the account is opened as a court-ordered blocked account, the fiduciary agrees to file documentation with the court that the funds and dividends may not be withdrawn or pledged except on court order.⁵

Completed by all acting trustees. Available to download.⁴

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Completed by the trustees. Available to download. Must be notarized.⁶

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Completed by the trustees. Available to download. Must be notarized.⁷

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Completed by the trustees. Available to download. Must be notarized.⁸

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Completed by the trustees. Available to download. Must be notarized.⁹

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Kinecta does not keep a copy of the trust instrument on file and states that it "HAS NOT RECEIVED A COPY OF THE TRUST INSTRUMENT AND SHALL IN NO EVENT BE LIABLE FOR ITS CONTENTS."⁵

The booklet reserves the right to require a notarized certification before opening the account or making changes.³

The booklet states the Certification of Trust Agreement "will not be approved unless successor trustee(s) are designated." The acting trustees name them at item 3 of the certification and affirm they are bound under the trust instrument to serve.³

Any one trustee acting alone may change, add or close the account or a service, and Kinecta has no duty to notify the other trustees of anything a trustee does alone. Kinecta may require all trustees to consent in writing to adding or removing a trustee.⁵

All trustors, trustees and beneficiaries must be eligible for Kinecta membership.⁵

Kinecta's California Certification of Trust states that all signatures must be notarized, and the trustees sign it under penalty of perjury.⁶

Kinecta's booklet states that trust accounts and fiduciary accounts are both outside California's Multiple Party Accounts law.³

Kinecta's Florida Certification of Trust states that all signatures must be notarized.⁷

Kinecta's New Jersey Certification of Trust states that all signatures must be notarized.⁸

Kinecta's New York Certification of Trust states that all signatures must be notarized.⁹