Treasury Direct account — trust or individual names?
When setting up an account in Treasury Direct, should it be titled in the names of our Trusts? My wife and I are both trustees in each trust. Assuming the accounts should be titled in the name of our trusts, how do we change the titling given each account is currently in our respective names?
Terry Says
You can’t change the title of an existing account. BUT you CAN each open a separate account in the name of your trusts, — and that’s assuming these are two separate revocable living trust. Yes, you would each use your SS number — again — to open the trust account.
Then when the securities in your individual names mature, you can purchase new ones in the trust account. The advantage of buying in your RLT is that at death the money in the account can be immediately handled by the successor trustee you each have named –or the second successor if you should both perish together. If held in your own names, the assets are a probate asset — taking longer to distribute.
