How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Redwood CU
Covers 10 deposit, 4 retirement, and 1 investment accounts — beneficiaries must be updated in-branch
RCU Member Service Center
Redwood Credit Union, P.O. Box 6104, Santa Rosa, CA 95406
RCU Member Service Center
Redwood Credit Union, P.O. Box 6104, Santa Rosa, CA 95406
Member Service Center / Account Services (deceased member accounts)
Redwood Credit Union, Attn: Account Services, PO Box 6104, Santa Rosa, CA 95406
Preparing your Redwood CU accounts for estate transfer involves two key steps: designating beneficiaries on each account and, where appropriate, retitling accounts into a trust. Because Redwood CU is a membership-based institution, trust retitling must maintain the membership eligibility requirement. Accounts with Payable on Death designations or trust ownership bypass probate entirely.
Redwood CU has 15 product types, and the estate transfer rules differ across them. Some support Payable on Death (POD) designations, some can be retitled into a trust, and others will require probate if nothing is set up. Each is covered below.
- Provide beneficiary information: full legal name, date of birth, Social Security number, and relationship
- Specify primary and contingent beneficiaries with percentage allocations
- Ask for a separate Membership Application (a new Member number) if you want a different POD set on different accounts — every non-IRA, non-HSA account under one Member number shares the same ownership and POD combination
Required Documents
- Trust name, date established, and tax ID (EIN or SSN)
Special Requirements
- POD (pay-on-death) payees are designated on the Membership Application, not on a standalone POD form (Membership Account Disclosure, Form 1414, Section III.E)
- Every non-IRA, non-HSA account under one Member number carries the SAME ownership and POD combination — to give different accounts different POD payees you must complete a separate Membership Application and RCU assigns a new Member number (Section III.F.4)
- POD payees are not allowed on UTMA or other fiduciary accounts (Section III.F.5)
- If a later Membership Application drops the POD designation, RCU treats the account as passing to your estate — the newest signed application controls (Section III.G)
- California is a community property state: a surviving spouse may assert a community property interest that reduces what passes to a non-spouse POD payee, and RCU stays out of that dispute (Section III.F.8)
- IRA beneficiary designations are separate from deposit account POD designations; RCU suggests consulting a tax or legal advisor before naming POD payees on an IRA (Section III.F.6)
- Joint accounts pass to the surviving Member Account Holders, subject to the reclamation rights of the Social Security Administration (Section III.E.1.b)
- Investment account beneficiaries are managed through LPL Financial
- Free notary services available at all RCU branches for estate-related documents
Sources
Data sourced from Redwood CU primary sources (27 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these Redwood CU instructions
Download instructions for the whole estateA printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details — verified against Redwood CU primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
RCU Member Service Center
Redwood Credit Union, P.O. Box 6104, Santa Rosa, CA 95406
RCU Member Service Center
Redwood Credit Union, P.O. Box 6104, Santa Rosa, CA 95406
Member Service Center / Account Services (deceased member accounts)
Redwood Credit Union, Attn: Account Services, PO Box 6104, Santa Rosa, CA 95406
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