Estate planning options at Sunwest Bank
Preparing your Sunwest Bank accounts for estate transfer involves two primary strategies: designating beneficiaries on individual accounts and, where supported, retitling accounts into a revocable living trust. Both approaches bypass probate, but they work differently depending on the account type.
The transfer rules at Sunwest Bank vary across 7 accounts. Below is a breakdown of beneficiary options, trust funding, and which products support each method.
No beneficiary form at Sunwest Bank
Required Documents
- A copy of the written trust agreement, or a document certifying that the trust exists (when the bank asks for it)
What Sunwest Bank says about beneficiaries and trusts
Each section is Sunwest Bank's own statement, with the document it comes from numbered under Sources.
Which accounts take a beneficiary2
- Payable-on-death account
Sunwest Bank offers individual, joint with right of survivorship, payable-on-death, trust and UTMA/UGMA ownership. An account titled "in trust for" or "transfer on death" is treated as a payable-on-death account.1
- Health savings account
A SelfcareHSA holder adds or changes beneficiaries online or in the SelfcareHSA mobile app.2
How many beneficiaries, and how shares are split
- Payable-on-death account
Several beneficiaries on a payable-on-death account are paid in equal shares. Only the owner of a retirement account may set unequal shares, by telling the bank in writing.1
What a designation takes to be effective
- Payable-on-death account
Any one owner of the account may change a beneficiary.1
What Sunwest Bank's agreement says about beneficiaries3
- A beneficiary who dies first
A beneficiary must survive every owner of the account to be paid. The bank pays the beneficiaries once it receives proof that all owners have died.1
- Claims against the account
If an owner owes the bank a debt at death, the bank may apply the account balance to it, even where the account names a beneficiary "in trust for" or "trustee for".1
- Which state governs the account
The agreement and the accounts are governed by federal law and, where federal law does not apply, by Utah law.1
Which accounts a trust can hold1
- Trust account
An account a trustee opens under a written trust agreement is a formal trust account, and the trust agreement sets the beneficiaries' rights to the funds.1
What Sunwest Bank says about trust accounts2
Not in Sunwest Bank's published guidance6
- What the owner provides to name a beneficiary
- A beneficiary designation form
- An online way to name a beneficiary, for deposit accounts
- Who may be named as beneficiary
- A trust account form
- How long a change takes
Sources2
- 1.Consumer Deposit Account Agreement (CDAA2026-7/1/2026), effective July 1, 2026
- 2.SelfcareHSA Account
Sources
(2)·
Data sourced from Sunwest Bank primary sources (24 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these Sunwest Bank instructions
A printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details, verified against Sunwest Bank primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
Sunwest Bank estate support
Phone
Lost or stolen debit card (24 hours)
Mailed deposits (deposit slips and endorsed checks)
Loan Servicing Department
Hours
Office
Mailing address
Website
Estate requests go through general customer service.
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