Specialty Accounts

A Conservator or Guardian Account holds money for a person who needs protection in personal or financial matters. The Probate Court appoints a conservator or guardian to make decisions on that person's behalf about their well-being or finances.

What to Bring

• An original or certified copy of the Letters of Conservatorship or Guardianship from the court administrator's office

Minnesota law requires a new, separate account for the protected person, and their money can't be mixed with anyone else's.

Roles

• Conservatee or ward: the protected person, who owns the funds
• Conservator or guardian: the court-appointed fiduciary who manages the protected person's affairs with powers granted by the court. One person can hold both roles.
• Co-conservator or co-guardian: appointed by the court in any number. All co-conservators must agree and sign on every decision.

An Estate Account is a temporary account, usually open for 12 to 18 months, that collects a deceased person's property, pays any debts they owed, and distributes funds to beneficiaries. The executor or administrator appointed by the probate court manages it.

What to Bring

• Court documents appointing you as executor or administrator

• An official death certificate

• The estate's Tax Identification Number

• Your identifying information

The person who passed away must have been eligible for CCCU membership.

Roles

• Executor or administrator: manages the financial affairs of the deceased person's estate

A Power of Attorney Account lets an agent, called the attorney-in-fact, manage another person's finances under a signed legal document called a Power of Attorney. The document can cover everything the principal owns or only transactions at one financial institution, and it should state what authority it grants and how long that authority lasts.

What to Bring

• A notarized Power of Attorney document, signed and dated by the principal

• Identifying information for you and the principal

You can be added to the principal's existing CCCU account or open a new one.

Roles

• Principal: the member who owns the funds
• Attorney-in-fact: the agent authorized to make transactions on the principal's behalf

A Representative Payee Account is opened by a person or organization the Social Security Administration appoints to receive benefits for someone who can't manage their own finances.

What to Bring

• The Social Security Administration letter appointing you as Representative Payee

• Identifying information for you and the beneficiary

Benefits go into a new account, even if the beneficiary already has one at CCCU, and only Social Security payments and cash can be deposited.

Roles

• Beneficiary: the person entitled to Social Security or Supplemental Security Income payments
• Representative Payee: the individual or organization that receives those payments for the beneficiary

A Trust Account holds a trust's assets, which a trustee manages for the trust's beneficiaries.

What to Bring

• A Certificate of Trust, which summarizes the trust

• The trust's Tax Identification Number, which may be the creator's Social Security number

• Identifying information for each trustee

Credit unions must open a new account for trust assets, even if a trustee already has a CCCU account. You can also name the trust as the Payable on Death beneficiary on your current CCCU accounts instead.

Roles

• Trustee or co-trustee: manages the trust's assets and carries out its rules
• Successor trustee (optional): takes over if the original trustee can no longer serve

CCCU holds the funds but can't be named as a trustee, so every decision about the money stays with the trustees.

A Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) account, also called a custodial account, lets one adult custodian manage money for a minor until they reach the age of majority. In Minnesota, that age is 21, unless the account is part of a court settlement.

What to Bring

• The minor's Tax Identification Number

• Identifying information for you as custodian

CCCU isn't required to monitor how the funds are used.

Roles

• Minor: the owner of the funds
• Custodian: manages the money in the minor's best interest. Each UTMA account allows only one.
• Successor custodian (optional): takes over if the original custodian can no longer serve