Trusts and bank accounts

30 Jan 2024 · 1 min

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1:01

In this concise video, Jerry Taylor advises clients who have a revocable or similar trust on how to manage their bank accounts. He recommends keeping the personal checking account in the individual's name but designating the trust as the primary beneficiary. For joint accounts with a spouse, the funds will pass to the trust upon the second spouse's death. Taylor also suggests opening a dedicated trust account at a large bank—such as Wells Fargo or Chase—since smaller banks may not support trust accounts. He advises funding this trust account with a modest amount, around $5,000, to establish the account and ensure the trust can receive assets.

Chapters

If you have a trust, how should you handle your bank accounts? This is what I tell my clients. Your checking account, you leave that in your name like it's always been, make no change there. Add your trust as the primary beneficiary to that account. All this assumes that you have a trust, a revocable trust or some other kind of trust. So you name your trust as the primary beneficiary for your checking account. If it's a joint account with your spouse, then at the second death, that money is going to go right into the trust. And you can do that with other accounts as well. But I would suggest if you have a trust, opening up an actual trust account at the bank. Some banks won't do that. Small banks may not, may tell you that they can't handle trust accounts, but the larger banks all know what to do with trust accounts. Wells Fargo, Chase, all those banks. So open up an actual trust account and put some money in there, you know, $5,000.