[WSBAPT] Listing Successor Trustee of RLT as beneficiary

[Nicholas Pleasants]

The bank is correct. The proper way to have a Successor Trustee take the funds as a fiduciary is to retitle the entire account as a fiduciary account inter vivos. The account should be owned by “John Doe & Jane Doe, Trustees of the Doe Family RLT dated 11/18/2020, and any amendments thereto”. Then provide the bank a Certificate of Trust that shows Mary Doe as Successor Trustee. We’ve worked with BECU a few times, for example they prefer to fill out their own Certificate of Trust and will require Mary Doe’s SSN for their internal record keeping. This way there is no beneficiary, the account simply is a trust account. And that makes it a really smooth transition.
If clients really do not want to retitle the account, you could try listing the beneficiary simply as “Doe Family RLT dated 11/18/2020, and any amendments thereto”. Then Mary Doe could claim it by presenting death certificates of both John and Jane, and a Certificate of Trust showing her as the successor trustee. If the branch won’t make this change, send a letter by certified mail to the bank’s “National Association” (e.g. Bank of America, N.A., 100 N. Tryon Street, Charlotte, North Carolina 28255) listing the account number and the new beneficiary. Financial Institutions are notorious for pushing back on listing a trust as a beneficiary, this is an ongoing struggle, especially for IRA’s and 401(k)s.
Best,
Nick
Nicholas Pleasants
Owner
[(Logo) Pleasants Law Firm]<http://www.pleasantslaw.com/>
Pleasants Law Firm, P.S.
2300 130th Ave NE, Suite A-101
Bellevue, WA 98005-1755
(425) 615-7070 tel/fax
nick at pleasantslaw.com<mailto:nick at pleasantslaw.com>
www.pleasantslaw.com<http://www.pleasantslaw.com>
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From: <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> on behalf of "michael at westseattleattorney.com" <michael at westseattleattorney.com>
Reply-To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2020 at 11:17 AM
To: "WSBA Probate & Trust Listserve" <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: [WSBAPT] Listing Successor Trustee of RLT as beneficiary

My clients tell me that the banks will not allow them to list a beneficiary as the Successor Trustee - so that the beneficiary takes the funds as a fiduciary,  what wording do others use? Thanks Mike

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