How Do I Open a Trust Account at Navy Federal?

Opening or retitling

Existing account

Can be retitled to the trust

Who can open it

Membership

Required

Documents to bring

• Completed Application for Deposit Trust Account (Form NFCU 678A), signed by the trustee
• Copy of the trust pages that name the trust, carry the signatures that established it, and show the trustee designations
• Grantor's Social Security number (SSN/ITIN) or the trust's Employer Identification Number (EIN)
• Trustee and co-trustee identification: name, street address, date of birth, SSN, and government ID number
• The number of trust beneficiaries, including life-estate-interest beneficiaries (required for share-insurance coverage)
• For accounts being reassigned: signature of the existing owner and any joint owner

Steps at Navy Federal

1. 1
   Have the legal trust drawn up first; Navy Federal does not draft trusts and refers members to Members Trust Company (888-727-9191) for an attorney referral.
2. 2
   Download the Application for Deposit Trust Account (Form NFCU 678A) from Navy Federal's Forms and Brochures page.
3. 3
   Complete Form NFCU 678A.

   • Section A: the trust's name, the grantor's SSN/ITIN or the trust's EIN, the grantor's Access Number, and the number of trust beneficiaries.
   • Sections B and C: trustee and co-trustee identification, including home street address, date of birth, SSN and driver's license or government ID number.
   • Section D: the new accounts to open under the trust, the existing account numbers to reassign to it, or both.
   • Sections F and G: the trustee's signature and tax certification, any co-trustee's signature, and signatures of the owner and joint owner of reassigned accounts.
4. 4
   Attach a copy of the trust pages that name the trust, carry the signatures that established it, and show the trustee designations.
5. 5
   The trust receives its own Access Number, separate from the trustee's personal Access Number, and only the trustees designated in the trust agreement can access its accounts.

What it costs

Navy Federal does not state the opening deposit, monthly fee, or fee-waiver balance for a trust account.

Schedule that applies

Navy Federal Schedule of Fees and Charges (NFCU 2043ep, 5-25)

Other charges

Dormant checking account fee $3.00 a quarter and inactive member fee $3.00 a quarter, for members 24 and over holding under $50.00 with no activity in 12 months and no other Navy Federal products; item copies $1.00 after the first each month.

Once it is open

Online banking

Available

What to know at Navy Federal

Savings, checking, money market savings and certificates can be held in a Deposit Trust Account; IRAs cannot. A checking line of credit survives reassignment of the checking account to the trust only if the trustees sign the notarised Agreement to Obligate Trust for Checking Line of Credit (NFCU 678CLOC), and it ends on the death of the grantors.

Not in Navy Federal's published guidance

• Whether a certification of trust or the full trust document is needed
• Whether it has its own certification of trust form
• Whether a branch appointment is needed
• Whether every co-trustee must sign or appear
• Whether you must already bank there
• Whether the account comes with checks or a debit card

After the grantor dies: the successor trustee at Navy Federal

Trust's own EIN

Required after the death

The account

Continues under the successor trustee

Online banking

Available to the successor

1. 1
   Tell Navy Federal whether all primary beneficiaries of the trust are members; each must hold a membership share savings account in their own name as primary owner.
2. 2
   Obtain an EIN for the trust from the IRS, online at IRS.gov or by Form SS-4; a decedent's SSN cannot be used.
3. 3
   Complete an updated Application for Deposit Trust Account for Survivors (Form NFCU 678AS) with the EIN, the trustee and co-trustee details, and the trust pages naming the trust and its trustees.
4. 4
   Bring the documents to a Navy Federal branch, or send them by fax (703-206-3724), by eMessage through navyfederal.org, or by mail to NFCU Trust Department, PO Box 3002, Merrifield, VA 22116-9887.
5. 5
   Allow up to 10 business days for processing.
6. 6
   If the beneficiaries are not eligible for membership or decline it, close the trust account with a written closure letter or the Deposit Trust Account Closure for Survivors form.

   • Give cashier's check or wire instructions for the funds.
   • A non-member successor trustee attaches a photo ID and the trust pages naming the trust, listing the successors, and carrying the establishing signatures.

A surviving co-grantor or co-trustee keeps the accounts on the surviving grantor's SSN, filing a new NFCU 678AS only if the accounts were on the decedent's SSN or the co-trustees change. After the grantor's death, membership runs through the beneficiaries, and the successor trustee can be a non-member. If the beneficiaries do not join, the trust account is dissolved and moved to another institution.