Whenever setting up a trust for a client for purposes of avoiding probate or avoiding nursing home spend-down, it is almost always advisable to move Certificates of Deposit into the trust. However, as a client from Bogalusa experienced this week, sometimes banks are not very flexible with their CDs.
There are many banks out there that will allow you to change the name on your CD’s to the name of your trust at any point. Typically the smaller, local banks are flexible when it comes to re-titling CD’s. However, some banks will make you wait until a CD matures before you can re-title that CD into the name of a trust. It all depends on the rules and regulations of that particular bank. Larger banks usually have more rules.
If you do have CD’s with a bank that will not change title to your accounts, you will need to wait until the CD matures before you can place it into trust. In order to have the CD avoid probate prior to maturity, you can ask the bank if they will allow you to name your heirs as payable on death for your CD. While POD is not ideal because of some conflicts with Louisiana law, POD may be a good stop-gap measure to ensure that CD’s avoid probate if something were to happen to you before the CD matures.
If you are interested in exploring how you can protect your CD’s from Louisiana probate and Nursing Home Costs, call (504) 274-1980 in the Metairie and New Orleans Area or call (985) 246-3020 in Mandeville, Covington, Slidell, Houma, Thibodaux, and surrounding areas.