How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Town & Country FCU
Covers 9 deposit, 2 retirement, and 10 lending accounts — beneficiaries must be updated in-branch
Member Services
Town & Country Federal Credit Union, P.O. Box 9420, South Portland, ME 04116-9420 (main office: 557 Main Street, South Portland, ME 04106)
Member Services
Town & Country Federal Credit Union, P.O. Box 9420, South Portland, ME 04116-9420 (main office: 557 Main Street, South Portland, ME 04106)
Member Services (no separate estate or bereavement department)
Town & Country Federal Credit Union, P.O. Box 9420, South Portland, ME 04116-9420 (main office: 557 Main Street, South Portland, ME 04106)
The goal with your Town & Country FCU accounts is to make sure every account has a transfer mechanism in place—either a POD beneficiary designation or trust ownership. Because Town & Country FCU is a membership-based institution, trust retitling must maintain the membership eligibility requirement. Accounts without either one will require probate, which means court involvement and delays for your family.
Town & Country FCU has 21 accounts with different estate transfer rules. Here is how beneficiary designations, trust ownership, and probate apply to each one.
- Visit any branch location throughout Southern Maine
- Request a POD beneficiary designation form
- Bring government-issued photo ID
- Complete the beneficiary designation with primary and contingent beneficiary details
- For a trust beneficiary: provide trust name, date, and EIN
- All account owners must sign the form
- The representative processes the designation
Required Documents
- Trust name, date established, and tax ID (EIN or SSN)
Special Requirements
- POD beneficiary designation available on all deposit accounts (checking, savings, money market, and certificates)
- Membership Agreement, "Revocable Trust or Pay-on-Death Account" (https://www.tcfcu.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/MbrAgmt-0525.pdf): a beneficiary cannot withdraw unless every person who created the account has died AND the beneficiary is then living. Two or more beneficiaries who survive own the account in equal shares, WITHOUT right of survivorship among them
- The person(s) who created a POD or revocable trust account keep full control while living: they may change beneficiaries, change the account type, and withdraw all or part of the funds at any time
- Membership Agreement, "Pledges": the credit union's lien on a deposit must be satisfied BEFORE the rights of any surviving account owner or account beneficiary become effective, so a POD designation does not shield the balance from the member's own debts to Town & Country
- Joint accounts default to joint tenancy with rights of survivorship. Town & Country also offers "Tenants-in-Common" joint accounts, on which the surviving party does NOT receive the deceased owner's share — that share passes through the estate. Ask which form your account uses
- IRA beneficiaries are designated at account opening and can be updated at any time by submitting a new form; a POD or trust designation on a deposit account does not carry over to an IRA
- Each account must be updated individually; beneficiary designations do not automatically carry across accounts
- All account owners must sign beneficiary designation forms
- A trust may be named as beneficiary on deposit and IRA accounts
Sources
Data sourced from Town & Country FCU primary sources (19 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these Town & Country FCU instructions
Download instructions for the whole estateA printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details — verified against Town & Country FCU primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
Member Services
Town & Country Federal Credit Union, P.O. Box 9420, South Portland, ME 04116-9420 (main office: 557 Main Street, South Portland, ME 04106)
Member Services
Town & Country Federal Credit Union, P.O. Box 9420, South Portland, ME 04116-9420 (main office: 557 Main Street, South Portland, ME 04106)
Member Services (no separate estate or bereavement department)
Town & Country Federal Credit Union, P.O. Box 9420, South Portland, ME 04116-9420 (main office: 557 Main Street, South Portland, ME 04106)
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