Estate planning options at ORNL FCU
There are two ways to keep your ORNL FCU accounts out of probate: adding Payable on Death designations and retitling accounts into a trust. Because ORNL FCU is a membership-based institution, trust retitling must maintain the membership eligibility requirement. Both methods ensure your accounts transfer directly to the people you choose, without court involvement.
ORNL FCU has 12 accounts with different estate transfer rules. Here is how beneficiary designations, trust ownership, and probate apply to each one.
Beneficiary designation is not available for investment accounts at ORNL FCU.
What ORNL FCU says about beneficiaries and trusts
Each section is ORNL FCU's own statement, with the document it comes from numbered under Sources.
Which accounts take a beneficiary3
- Payable-on-death account
POD beneficiaries are named on the membership account.1
A POD membership account is payable to the owners during their lifetimes and, when the last account owner dies, to any named, living POD beneficiary.1
- Certificate of deposit
Beneficiaries may be named at the share level for share certificates only.1
- IRA
A POD designation does not apply to IRAs. An IRA uses the separate IRA beneficiary designation.1
How many beneficiaries, and how shares are split
- All accounts
Sums payable to more than one surviving beneficiary are distributed to all surviving beneficiaries equally.1
What ORNL FCU's agreement says about beneficiaries3
- A beneficiary who dies first
If a named beneficiary dies before the owner, the funds are split equally among the beneficiaries alive when the last owner dies.1
- Who can see the designation
ORNL FCU is not obligated to notify any beneficiary of the existence of an account or the vesting of a beneficiary interest, except as provided by law.1
- Claims against the account
Payments to a beneficiary are subject to the credit union's security interest, consensual lien and right to set-off.1
Which accounts a trust can hold1
- Trust account
ORNL FCU may open accounts pursuant to a court order, trust agreement, or similar authority for a trust, probate, custodial, or other fiduciary purpose.1
What ORNL FCU says about trust accounts3
- Who signs for the trust
The person acting as trustee or in another fiduciary capacity is designated as such on the account.1
- Membership
An individual account may be owned by a trust qualified for credit union membership.1
- Claims against the account
The credit union's pledge and lien rights do not include any irrevocable trust or fiduciary account in which the member has no vested ownership interest.1
Not in ORNL FCU's published guidance2
- What the owner provides to name a beneficiary
- A beneficiary form to download
Sources1
Sources
Data sourced from ORNL FCU primary sources (7 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these ORNL FCU instructions
Download instructions for the whole estateA printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details — verified against ORNL FCU primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
ORNL FCU estate support
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Estate requests go through general customer service.
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