How to designate beneficiaries at Simmons Bank
Beneficiaries are managed in branch
There are two ways to keep your Simmons Bank accounts out of probate: adding beneficiary designations and retitling eligible accounts into a revocable living trust. Which approach works best depends on the account type and your overall estate plan.
Simmons Bank has 17 accounts with different estate transfer rules. Here is how beneficiary designations, trust ownership, and probate apply to each one.
Required Documents
- Beneficiary's name, address and Social Security number (when naming a beneficiary while opening a CD)
Required Documents
- Written trust agreement naming the trustee
Beneficiary designation is not available for retirement accounts at Simmons Bank.
What Simmons Bank says about beneficiaries and trusts
Each section is Simmons Bank's own statement, with the document it comes from numbered under Sources.
Which accounts take a beneficiary2
- Payable-on-death account
Pay-On-Death beneficiaries are added to an existing deposit account at a Simmons Bank branch.1
Online, a beneficiary can be named only while opening a CD or a Coin Checking account.1, 2
- Certificate of deposit
A beneficiary can be named while a CD is being opened, online or in person.2
How many beneficiaries, and how shares are split
- Payable-on-death account
Two or more Pay-On-Death beneficiaries who survive all the persons who created the account own it in equal shares, with right of survivorship.3
What Simmons Bank's agreement says about beneficiaries3
- A beneficiary who dies first
A Pay-On-Death beneficiary cannot withdraw unless all persons who created the account have died and the beneficiary is living when the last of them dies.3
- What the owner keeps while living
The persons who created the account may change beneficiaries, change account types and withdraw all or part of the funds at any time.3
- Powers of attorney over a living owner's account
An agent under a power of attorney has no ownership or rights at death unless the agent is also named as a Pay-On-Death beneficiary.3
Which accounts a trust can hold1
- Trust account
Private Banking Checking is available to individuals only.3
What Simmons Bank says about trust accounts3
- Who signs for the trust
Simmons Bank's personal and business account terms state that an account "may be opened and maintained by a person or persons named as a trustee under a written trust agreement."3, 4
- Review of the trust document
By opening the account, Simmons is "not acting in the capacity of a trustee in connection with the trust" and undertakes no "obligation to monitor or enforce the terms of the trust."3, 4
- Fees
Under Signature Checking, a primary account holder that is a fiduciary, such as a trustee, is not eligible for the monthly service charge waiver that follows the age condition.3
Accounts handled elsewhere1
- Simmons Bank Private Wealth
Serves as trustee for revocable and irrevocable trusts, through its Private Wealth Strategists5
Not in Simmons Bank's published guidance6
- A phone or mail beneficiary channel
- A rule on naming a trust as a POD beneficiary
- Beneficiary terms for IRAs and HSAs
- A procedure for holding an account in a trust
- A trust account form
- A trust-account document list
Sources
(1)·
Data sourced from Simmons Bank primary sources (19 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these Simmons Bank instructions
A printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details, verified against Simmons Bank primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
Simmons Bank estate support
General Banking Questions
Phone
24-Hour Telephone Banking
Consumer Credit Cards (24-hour service)
Lost or stolen debit cards (during office hours)
Mortgage payment assistance questions
Hours
Mailing address
Website
Estate requests go through general customer service.
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