Chase Trust Account: What Chase Requires

Can a Trust Own a Chase Account?

Yes. Chase’s Deposit Account Agreement lists a trust account among its fiduciary accounts and reserves the right to ask for proof of authority.

“If you open an estate account, trust account, guardianship or conservatorship account, or other similar type of account, we reserve the right to require any documents we reasonably request to satisfy us that you are authorized to open and use the account, including withdrawing the funds.”

Chase Deposit Account Agreement (effective 6/14/2026), p. 7

“Re-titling of a CD to transfer ownership of funds into a living trust without moving funds from the bank and where no change in term or rate occurs.”

Chase Deposit Account Agreement, p. 23 (circumstances in which the CD early-withdrawal penalty is waived)

That second rule matters to anyone funding a trust. A Chase CD can move into your living trust mid-term without the early-withdrawal penalty, as long as the money stays at Chase and the term and rate do not change.

The Chase Certification of Trust

Chase does not need to read your trust. The agreement says it may rely on its own certification form instead, and the trustee who signs it takes on the risk if it is wrong.

“For trust accounts, in place of any page(s) of (a) the original trust agreement, (b) any amendment to the original trust agreement, and (c) any restatement of the original trust agreement, you acknowledge and agree that we may rely solely on the Chase Certification of Trust (Certification) provided by the trustee(s).”

Chase Deposit Account Agreement, p. 7

“You agree, as trustee (on behalf of yourself individually, co-trustees and the trust), to indemnify and hold us harmless from any and all liability, and covenant not to sue us, relating to our reliance on the Certification or for any actions taken pursuant to the Certification.”

Chase Deposit Account Agreement, p. 7

The agreement names only “the Chase Certification of Trust”, so plan on completing Chase’s form even if your lawyer gave you a certification of trust with the trust. Read it before you sign, because it asks you to state facts about the trust under an indemnity.

A Trust Account or an “In Trust For” Account?

Chase draws the line at whether you present formal trust documents. Without them, an account titled “in trust for” someone is treated as an informal trust that pays straight to the named beneficiaries.

“If you establish your account as in trust for (“ITF”) or as trustee for one or more beneficiaries without presenting formal trust documents, we may treat the account as an “ITF” account. If we receive proof you’ve died, we may pay the balance of the account to the surviving beneficiary or beneficiaries you designated.”

Chase Deposit Account Agreement, p. 6

“We do not offer ITF accounts in all states.”

Chase Deposit Account Agreement, p. 6

The difference decides who controls the money after your death. An ITF account pays the named people outright. An account owned by your trust stays with your successor trustee, who follows the trust’s instructions, including any ages or conditions you set for a child.

How to Open One, and What Chase Publishes

Chase’s deposit agreement does not describe the opening steps for a checking or savings account owned by a trust. The steps Chase does publish are for J.P. Morgan investment trust accounts, and they show what the bank tends to ask for.

“Two forms of government ID for the trustee(s)”

J.P. Morgan Wealth Management trust account page (investment accounts, not deposit accounts), read 2026-09-28

“If there are two trustees, both trustees will need to be present during the account opening call to confirm their contact information and provide signatures.”

J.P. Morgan Wealth Management trust account page (investment accounts)

For a deposit account, bring both trustees if there are two, two forms of ID each, your trust or its certification, and the tax identification number the account will use. Ask the branch before the appointment whether a co-trustee can sign alone, because Chase’s deposit agreement does not say.

When You Die

The agreement’s death rules apply to every account owner, and Chase says it owes no fiduciary duty to the trustee or the beneficiaries.

“After we receive notice of death or incompetence, we may freeze your balance, refuse to accept transactions, and reverse or return deposits. We are also not required to release your funds until we receive any documents we reasonably request to verify your death or incompetence, as well as who is entitled to the funds.”

Chase Deposit Account Agreement, p. 26

“We have no fiduciary duties to you as the trustee, executor, guardian or conservator, or to the beneficial owners of the account.”

Chase Deposit Account Agreement, p. 7

Chase also waives the CD early-withdrawal penalty on the “Death of a CD owner or a grantor of a revocable family/living trust” (p. 23), so a successor trustee can break a CD without that penalty.

What Chase Does Not Publish

Chase’s published documents do not say how to open a checking or savings account in a trust’s name (branch, online or phone), the form number and contents of the Chase Certification of Trust, whether the account uses your Social Security number or a trust EIN, what a successor trustee brings when the grantor dies, or how to add or change a trustee later. Ask those questions when you book the appointment, and ask for any trust form by name so you can read it before you sign. Bring the trust agreement itself even if the bank says it will rely on a certification, because a banker who asks for a page is easier to satisfy on the spot.

If you already have an account at Chase, ask whether it can be retitled into the trust rather than closed and reopened. A retitled account keeps its number, so checks and automatic payments keep working.

What Florida Law Lets You Show Instead of Your Whole Trust

Florida lets a trustee hand a bank a certification of trust instead of the trust instrument. The certification states that the trust exists and the date it was signed, who created it, who the current trustee is and the trustee’s address, the trustee’s powers, whether the trust can be revoked and by whom, whether co-trustees must act together, and how the trust takes title to property. It does not have to show who inherits.

The certification must say that the trust has not been revoked or amended in a way that makes it wrong. A bank that relies on it without knowing it is wrong is protected, so the bank can act on it without reading the trust. A bank can still ask for the pages of the trust that name the trustee and give the trustee power to act in the transaction at hand.

A certification keeps your beneficiaries and their shares private. When a bank asks for the whole trust, the banker is reading your family’s inheritance plan.

How Much of a Trust Account the FDIC Insures

The FDIC insures trust deposits at $250,000 for each beneficiary the grantor names, counting at most five, so up to $1,250,000 per grantor at one bank. A married couple who are both grantors can reach twice that. Payable-on-death accounts and accounts owned by the trust at the same bank are added together toward the limit, and a beneficiary who inherits only if someone else has already died does not count toward the five.

That makes the list of beneficiaries in the trust the number that decides coverage. A trust that leaves everything to one child is insured to $250,000 per grantor at each bank, however many accounts it holds there.

Trust Accounts at Other Banks

• Bank of America Trust Account: What the Bank Requires
• Wells Fargo Trust Account: What the Bank Requires
• Ally Bank Trust Account: How to Open One, Step by Step
• How to Open a Trust Account at a Bank
• Trust account requirements at 185 banks, brokers and insurers (dataset)
• How to fund a trust in Florida
• Does my trust need a tax return or an EIN?

Frequently Asked Questions

Common Situations

The CDs left out of the trust. A widow signs a new living trust but still holds two Chase CDs in her own name, so at her death they would go through probate. Under Chase’s agreement she can retitle both CDs into the trust without the early-withdrawal penalty, as long as the money stays at Chase on the same term and rate.

The account titled “in trust for” the grandchildren. A grandmother opens a Chase savings account “in trust for” her three grandchildren and assumes it is part of her trust. Without formal trust documents Chase may treat it as an ITF account, which pays the three of them outright at her death, including a 19-year-old her trust was written to hold money for until 25.

Sources of Law

• Chase Deposit Account Agreement and Privacy Notice, effective 6/14/2026, pp. 5, 6, 7, 23, 26, 27 (https://www.chase.com/content/dam/chase-ux/documents/personal/checking/deposit-account-agreement.pdf).
• J.P. Morgan Wealth Management, Open a Trust Account (investment trust accounts) (https://www.chase.com/personal/investments/trust-account).
• Fla. Stat. §736.1017 (annotated) (certification of trust; contents under subsection (1)(a) to (h); signed by any trustee under (2); statement that the trust has not been revoked or amended under (3); dispositive terms not required under (4); excerpts on request under (5); reliance protection under (6) and (7)).
• 12 C.F.R. §330.10 (FDIC coverage of formal and informal revocable trust accounts; $250,000 times the number of eligible beneficiaries, up to five, aggregated across trust accounts of the same grantor; contingent beneficiaries excluded under (c)(2)(ii)).
• Bank documents retrieved September 24 and 25, 2026, and read again for this page on September 28, 2026. Banks change their terms; confirm the current version with the bank.

Updated on September 28, 2026. Reviewed by Kevin D. Klagge, Esq., Fla. Bar No. 99502. Attorney Kevin Klagge represents families, businesses, and international clients in estate and tax planning, business structuring, and international law, with a focus on Florida legal tools. He litigates estate and business issues in court. StepUpLaw is not affiliated with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., and the quotations are from the bank’s own published documents. General information about Florida law, not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created. Do not send confidential information until we have agreed to represent you.