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account applications
CUSTODIAL ACCOUNTS
This type of account is useful for members when they have special legal responsibilities.
The account is established by a Custodian acting as Executor (estate account), Administrator, or Guardian
for a Principal.
Please note, if you are opening a custodial account for a minor, follow the procedures
for the Uniform Trust to Minors Account (UTMA).
To open a Custodial Account, either the Custodian or Principal must be eligible for
LFCU membership. The following documents are required:
- Estate Accounts require a Grant of Probate (for an executor) or Grant Letter of Administration
(for an administrator appointed where there is no will).
- Other accounts may or may not require legal documents, depending on the circumstances.
- If the custodian intends to deposit checks into the account made out to the principal,
then we will need to ascertain that individual’s legal authority to do so.
A Custodial Account is opened using the Social Security Number of the individual who
owns the funds (the Principal) or the Tax I. D. Number of the estate.
Application Instructions:
1. Download the Custodial Accounts
Application (pdf format).
You may either print the application and complete it by hand or fill in the application electronically
and print it after you have completed it. We require an original signature on the form. Please make sure
your application is completed fully and legibly.
2. Write a check (payable to Lafayette Federal Credit Union) or provide
cash (if applying in person only) for your initial deposit of at least $50.
3. Bring your valid government-issued identification and initial deposit
to any credit union financial service center. To find a financial service center location near you, please click here.
If you have any questions concerning membership, please e-mail
us.
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POWER OF ATTORNEY
The purpose of a power of attorney is to appoint an agent for the principal. The individual
(or company) who executes it is the principal. The person the principal appoints to act
on his behalf is called the attorney-in-fact.
While POAs may come in different forms, the Uniform Statutory Form Power of Attorney
Act provides a uniform form (as the name implies) to be used for POAs that is straightforward and easy
to understand. The principal simply initials the powers he/she wishes to bestow upon the attorney-in-fact
and crosses through (or fails to initial) the rest. You may obtain this form from your attorney or via
the internet.
In order for a power of attorney to remain in effect despite the subsequent incapacity
or incompetency of the principal or the passage of time, it must be a durable POA. A
durable POA is one that states that it shall remain in effect in those circumstances. If a POA is not
durable, its effectiveness will cease when the principal is adjudged to be incompetent or incapacitated.
The principal may revoke the POA at any time for any reason. All powers of attorney
terminate automatically upon the death of the principal. Any language quoted to the contrary will not
extend the effectiveness of the POA beyond the principal’s death.
Application Instructions:
1. Download the Convenience Person
Application (pdf format).
You may either print the application and complete it by hand or fill in the application electronically
and print it after you have completed it. We require an original signature on the form. Please make sure
your application is completed fully and legibly.
This form should be completed by the Principal. If the Attorney-in-Fact asserts that
the Principal is incompetent and unable to complete the form, the Attorney-in-Fact may complete it on
behalf of the Principal
2. Provide a copy of the Power of Attorney signed by the Principal
and notarized.
3. The Convenience Person must bring valid government-issued identification
to any credit union branch. To find a branch location near you, click here.
All Convenience Person applications must be reviewed and approved by an authorized staff
member. Please be aware that the Convenience Person will not be permitted access to the account until
the application is approved
If you have any questions concerning membership, please e-mail
us.
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TRUST ACCOUNTS
There are various types of trust accounts each with a different purpose. The types available
at LFCU will be discussed below.
It is important to note that the credit union does not have a Trust Department and is
prohibited by law from acting in the capacity of Trustee. We will not accept legal liability for administering
a Trust Account. We will ONLY follow the instructions given to us on the documents opening the account
with us.
Totten Trust
A Totten Trust is just another name for the usual payable-on-death type of account. Testamentary trusts,
tentative or Totten trust accounts, payable-on-death accounts, and other similar accounts are accounts
that evidence the owner’s intent to have funds in the account transferred to named beneficiaries
at the time of the owner’s death. Unlike more complicated trusts, Totten or payable-on-death trusts
can be created at the credit union merely by indicating that intent in the title of the account.
A testamentary account in which the named beneficiary is the spouse, child, or grandchild
of the owner, is "insured up to $100,000 in the aggregate as to each such beneficiary, separately
from any other accounts of the owner or beneficiary, regardless of the membership status of the beneficiary."
If the named beneficiary is not the owner's spouse, child, or grandchild, then the funds in the account
"shall be added to any individual accounts of such owner and insured by $100,000 in the aggregate."
Living Trust
A Living Trust can be set up by an attorney, or by the individual(s) themselves (a Grantor/Trustor). Legal
documentation, the Trust Instrument, must exist to establish a Trust Account. They are always created
outside the credit union.
Blocked Trust
Sometimes a minor or adult may be a beneficiary of a settlement (usually insurance or court-ordered).
In those instances, the credit union may be asked to establish a blocked trust or blocked account. If
there is a court order involved, the credit union would be named as the recipient of the funds. The order
will also contain information as to how the account should be established, who can be on the account,
whether any transactions can be made on the account, etc. Some court orders do not permit the release
of funds for any reason without another court order. Some will direct the credit union to pay a specified
person out of the account after a certain date.
The credit union does not offer these accounts at this time.
Application Instructions:
1. Download the Trust Account Application (pdf format).
You may either print the application and complete it by hand or fill in the application electronically
and print it after you have completed it. We require an original signature on the form. Please make sure
your application is completed fully and legibly.
2. Write a check (payable to Lafayette Federal Credit Union) or provide
cash (if applying in person only) for your initial deposit of at least $50.
3. Bring your valid government-issued identification and initial deposit
to any credit union financial service center. To find a financial service center location near you, please click here.
If you have any questions concerning membership, please e-mail
us.
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UNIFORM TRUST TO MINORS ACCOUNTS
For tax and other reasons, parents, grandparents and others sometimes want to transfer
ownership of cash and other financial assets to children who are too young to handle such assets. One
way to do this is to establish a trust. The Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (or Uniform Gifts to Minors
Act) provides an alternative that may be simpler, cheaper and faster than a trust.
When a minor applies for a Savings account with LFCU, it is issued under the provisions
of the "State of Maryland's Uniform Gifts or Uniform Transfers to Minors Act." Anyone can open
a UTMA account using the name and TIN of the minor. A UTMA account is a restricted account,
which means that the custodian is the only individual that has access to this account.
Either the custodian or the minor (beneficiary) must be eligible for
membership in the credit union.
The custodian can be any adult over the age of 21. The custodian manages the money in
the account, and authorizes all deposit and withdrawal transactions. Although withdrawals can only be
for the benefit of the minor child, it is not the responsibility of the credit union to monitor these
transactions. The minor child cannot withdraw funds from this account.
It's important to understand that funds held in a custodial account are owned
by the child. Even though the child will not have control of the property until later, the child
is the owner as soon as funds are transferred to the account. This fact has important consequences:
- A gift is legally complete when cash or other property is transferred to a custodial
account, not when the account terminates. The contributor is not allowed to change his/her mind and
take the property back.
- Income generated by assets in the account is the child's income.
The account must be titled as a UTMA account. For example the primary member
of an account for Sally Doe (minor) would be “Sally Doe, Beneficiary UTMA, John Doe, Custodian”.
The account terminates when the child reaches a specified age. The age depends on the
state's law and can range from 18 to 25. In some states the custodian can choose to designate a different
age than the one that automatically applies, but the law will impose a limit on the age the custodian
can choose. In the District of Columbia the age is 18, in Maryland it is 21, and in Virginia you may set
the age from 18 through 21.
To open a Uniform Trust to Minors Account, complete the Uniform Trust to Minors Accounts
application. We will verify the identity of the adult custodian. If you are already a member, additional
verification will not be necessary.
Application Instructions:
1. Download the Uniform Trust to Minors Accounts
Application (pdf format).
You may either print the application and complete it by hand or fill in the application electronically
and print it after you have completed it. We require an original signature on the form. Please make sure
your application is completed fully and legibly.
2. Write a check (payable to Lafayette Federal Credit Union) or provide
cash (if applying in person only) for your initial deposit of at least $50.
3. Bring your valid government-issued identification and initial deposit
to any credit union financial service center. To find a financial service center location near you, please click here.
If you have any questions concerning membership, please e-mail
us.
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