Estate planning at Sunmark
How to protect 18 Sunmark accounts — manage beneficiaries in-branch, fund a trust in-branch, and file death claims
Sunmark Credit Union, 1187 Troy Schenectady Road, Latham, NY 12110
Sunmark Credit Union, 1187 Troy Schenectady Road, Latham, NY 12110
Member Solutions Center
Sunmark Credit Union, 1187 Troy Schenectady Road, Latham, NY 12110
How your Sunmark accounts transfer at death depends on how each one is set up. As a membership-based credit union, Sunmark membership open to anyone who lives, works, worships, attends school, owns a business, or volunteers in Albany, Columbia, Dutchess, Fulton, Greene, Montgomery, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Warren, or Westchester counties in New York. Employees of Sunmark Community Partners and family members of existing members also qualify. 17 financial center locations with access to 5,000+ shared branches nationwide. $1 minimum deposit to establish membership. With 18 account types, the transfer rules vary—getting the right designations in place now prevents delays and court involvement later.
At Sunmark, beneficiary designations are managed in branch 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 Sunmark: 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 18 account types at Sunmark.
View details →When someone dies
Death claim process
4-step process, 6 required documents, and contact information for survivors.
View details →Sunmark is not available nationwide. Estate planning procedures may vary by state, so confirm that your location is served before making account changes.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Sunmark deposit accounts — including checking, savings, money market, Signature Money Market, and share certificates — can be retitled into the name of a revocable living trust. This requires an in-branch visit to any of Sunmark's 17 financial centers. Bring the full trust agreement or a Certificate of Trust, government-issued photo ID for all trustees, and the trust's tax identification number (the grantor's SSN for a revocable trust, or an EIN). IRA accounts cannot be retitled to a trust but can name a trust as beneficiary.
Yes. Sunmark Traditional and Roth IRA accounts can name a trust as the beneficiary. Designating a trust as an IRA beneficiary is done through a separate IRA beneficiary designation form rather than a standard POD form. An IRA cannot be retitled directly into a trust during the account owner's lifetime. When a trust is named as IRA beneficiary, the trust must generally qualify as a "see-through trust" under IRS rules to allow individual beneficiaries to use their own life expectancy for required minimum distributions. Consult a tax or estate planning attorney before naming a trust as an IRA beneficiary.
Sunmark offers wealth management and investment services through LPL Financial, a registered broker-dealer and investment advisor (member FINRA/SIPC). Available services include personalized wealth management, retirement planning, 401(k) guidance, IRA rollover assistance, and estate and legacy planning strategies. These products and services are not NCUA insured. Sunmark Credit Union is not a registered broker-dealer or investment advisor. Contact the Wealth Management team at any Sunmark financial center or through sunmark.org/personal/wealth-management.
Sources
Data sourced from Sunmark primary sources (14 pages reviewed). How we research.
Sunmark Credit Union, 1187 Troy Schenectady Road, Latham, NY 12110
Sunmark Credit Union, 1187 Troy Schenectady Road, Latham, NY 12110
Member Solutions Center
Sunmark Credit Union, 1187 Troy Schenectady Road, Latham, NY 12110
Estate planning articles
Learn how to protect your Sunmark accounts and other assets with trusts, beneficiary designations, and estate planning documents.
