Estate planning at SECU
How to protect 19 SECU accounts — manage beneficiaries in-branch, fund a trust in-branch, and file claims through SECU's Financial Advisory Services / Members Trust Company
SECU, P.O. Box 27963, Raleigh, NC 27611-7963
Financial Advisory Services / Members Trust Company
SECU Life Insurance Claims
SECU, P.O. Box 27963, Raleigh, NC 27611-7963
SECU is a credit union offering 19 accounts that interact with estate planning in different ways. As a membership-based credit union, SECU serves North Carolina state employees, public school employees, university employees, community college employees, and their families. Understanding how each account transfers at death—and which ones a trust can hold—helps families avoid probate delays and unintended outcomes.
Account holders can update their beneficiary designations at SECU in branch, by mail, and by phone. Accounts can also be retitled into a trust to keep them out of probate entirely.
There are two sides to estate planning at SECU: setting things up while you're alive, and the process survivors follow after a death.
Preparing your estate
Beneficiaries and trust funding
How to update beneficiaries in-branch, fund a trust in-branch, and review 19 account types at SECU.
View details →When someone dies
Death claim process
Contact SECU's Financial Advisory Services / Members Trust Company to file a claim. 5-step process, 6 required documents, and contact information for survivors.
View details →Reach SECU's Financial Advisory Services / Members Trust Company at 1-833-599-7328 for help with any of these procedures.
SECU operates in select states, so estate planning procedures may vary by location. Confirm availability in your state before initiating trust funding or account changes.
Frequently asked questions
Visit any SECU branch or call (888) 732-8562 to request a new account signature form with a POD designation. Complete the form with your primary and contingent beneficiary information, have all account owners sign it, and return it to SECU. You may update your beneficiaries at any time by submitting a new signed account signature form. Online beneficiary changes are not available; the designation is embedded in the account signature form.
SECU partners with Members Trust Company (MTC), a federal thrift regulated by the OCC and founded in 1987. MTC offers: Corporate Trustee Services (minimum $250,000) for full trust administration including bill paying, real estate management, trust tax filings, and asset distribution; Agent for Trustee Services for members serving as their own trustee; Estate Settlement Services acting as executor; and FlexIRA accounts that combine IRA tax advantages with trust control.
The FlexIRA is offered through Members Trust Company and combines the tax benefits of an IRA with the control and flexibility of a trust. It allows account control during your lifetime, provides for management during periods of incapacity, and offers customized beneficiary distribution options that are compliant with the SECURE Act. Contact Financial Advisory Services at (833) 599-7328 for details.
The EPE program allows members to meet with a participating attorney at a local SECU branch to create a complete estate plan at a predetermined price. Individuals pay $375; married couples with substantially similar plans completed simultaneously pay $500. Documents produced include a Will (which may include trust provisions), Durable Power of Attorney, Health Care Power of Attorney, Living Will, and HIPAA Authorization. The program follows four steps: initial consultation with a trust representative, completing a questionnaire one week before the appointment, meeting the attorney at a branch to execute documents, and paying the attorney directly after notarization. Participating attorneys are independent professionals, not SECU employees.
Sources
Data sourced from SECU primary sources (18 pages reviewed). How we research.
SECU, P.O. Box 27963, Raleigh, NC 27611-7963
Financial Advisory Services / Members Trust Company
SECU Life Insurance Claims
SECU, P.O. Box 27963, Raleigh, NC 27611-7963
Estate planning articles
Learn how to protect your SECU accounts and other assets with trusts, beneficiary designations, and estate planning documents.
