How to designate beneficiaries at Union Bank (Vermont)
Beneficiaries are managed online or in branch
There are two ways to keep your Union Bank (Vermont) accounts out of probate: adding beneficiary designations and structuring ownership to align with your estate plan. Which approach works best depends on the account type and your overall estate plan.
With 17 product types, Union Bank (Vermont) offers a range of transfer options. Some accounts support Payable on Death (POD) designations, others can be retitled into a trust, and some require probate if no beneficiary is designated. The sections below break down each step.
Beneficiary designation is not available for investment accounts at Union Bank (Vermont).
What Union Bank (Vermont) says about beneficiaries and trusts
Each section is Union Bank (Vermont)'s own statement, with the document it comes from numbered under Sources.
Which accounts take a beneficiary2
- Payable-on-death account
A pay-on-death beneficiary is paid only once 90 days have passed since the last owner's death, if no personal representative or probate court has stopped payment in that time.1
- IRA
An IRA beneficiary is named on the IRA application, and the owner can change or revoke the choice under the rules Union Bank sets.2
How many beneficiaries, and how shares are split
What Union Bank (Vermont)'s agreement says about beneficiaries4
- What the owner keeps while living
Whoever opens a pay-on-death or revocable trust account can change its beneficiaries or its type, and take out some or all of the money, at any time.1
- Joint accounts
Two or more people who open a pay-on-death account together own it jointly with survivorship while any of them is living.1
- No beneficiary survives
An IRA with no beneficiary on file, or whose named beneficiaries have all died, goes to the owner's estate.2
- Powers of attorney over a living owner's account
An authorized signer on an individual account can withdraw money for the owner but cannot change what the beneficiaries receive.1
Which accounts a trust can hold1
- Trust account
The online application opens personal accounts for one owner, with joint owners, and for minors with an adult; it has no option for a trust.3
What Union Bank (Vermont) says about trust accounts3
- Review of the trust document
Holding a trust's money does not make Union Bank a trustee, and it takes on no duty to watch over or enforce the trust's terms.1
- Online access
Trustees may have to fill out a separate eBanking application, available from a branch or Customer Care, to use online banking.4
- Fees
CDs and IRAs on which the Advantage account's primary owner is a trustee count toward the balance that waives the Advantage checking fee.5
Accounts handled elsewhere1
- Union Bank Wealth Management
Personal trusts that Union Bank administers, from living and revocable trusts to supplemental-needs trusts6
Phone: 1-800-753-4343
Not in Union Bank (Vermont)'s published guidance4
- What the owner provides to name a beneficiary
- Which trust documents it accepts
- A procedure for holding an account in a trust
- A beneficiary designation form, for deposit accounts
Sources
(4)·
Data sourced from Union Bank (Vermont) primary sources (31 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these Union Bank (Vermont) instructions
A printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details, verified against Union Bank (Vermont) primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
Union Bank (Vermont) estate support
Wealth Management
Phone
Wealth Management, St. Albans
Wealth Management, Morrisville
Website
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