How to designate beneficiaries at Tompkins Bank & Trust
Beneficiaries are managed online
Preparing your Tompkins Bank & Trust accounts for estate transfer involves two primary strategies: designating beneficiaries on individual accounts and aligning account ownership with your broader estate plan. Both approaches bypass probate, but they work differently depending on the account type.
Tompkins Bank & Trust has 18 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 pass through the estate if nothing is set up. Each is covered below.
Beneficiary form at Tompkins Bank & Trust
Update Beneficiary form (for health savings accounts).
Beneficiary designation is not available for deposit accounts at Tompkins Bank & Trust.
Beneficiary designation is not available for retirement accounts at Tompkins Bank & Trust.
What Tompkins Bank & Trust says about beneficiaries
Each section is Tompkins Bank & Trust's own statement, with the document it comes from numbered under Sources.
Which accounts take a beneficiary1
- Health savings account
If the owner names no beneficiary on a Tompkins HSA, the HSA goes to the owner's estate.1
Who can be named1
- A person, health savings accounts
The owner may name anyone as an HSA beneficiary, provided the beneficiary has a Social Security number or tax ID.1
How many beneficiaries, and how shares are split
- Health savings account
The first beneficiary added is primary at 100 percent. With two or more primary beneficiaries, the owner sets each one's percentage on the new designation, for example 50 percent each.1
What a designation takes to be effective
- Health savings account
When the owner's main home is in a community property state and the beneficiary is someone other than the spouse, the owner and the spouse both sign the Update Beneficiary form from the portal's Tools and Support section.1
Beneficiary forms Tompkins Bank & Trust issues1
- Update Beneficiary form
For health savings accounts. Completed by the HSA owner and spouse. Completed online.1
Accounts handled elsewhere1
- Tompkins Financial Advisors, Trusts and Estates
Trust administration, with the affiliate as trustee, and trust tax returns2, 3, 4
Phone: 1-800-274-4003
Not in Tompkins Bank & Trust's published guidance9
- What the owner provides to name a beneficiary, for deposit accounts
- A beneficiary designation form, for deposit accounts
- An online way to name a beneficiary, for deposit accounts
- Terms in its agreements for a beneficiary designation, for deposit accounts
- What the owner provides to name a beneficiary, for retirement accounts
- A procedure for holding an account in a trust
- A trust account form
- Which trust documents it accepts
- Terms in its agreements for a trust account
Sources
(4)·
Data sourced from Tompkins Bank & Trust primary sources (44 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these Tompkins Bank & Trust instructions
A printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details, verified against Tompkins Bank & Trust primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
Tompkins Bank & Trust estate support
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