Establishing Guardianship Accounts

A Guardianship account is established by the court when a person is legally incapacitated and unable to manage their financial affairs. The court-appointed guardian of a person's estate can be an individual or guardianship services organization, which manages the financial affairs of the incapacitated person.

Required Documents

• A Guardianship Account Application and Change Request packet
• Your completed Guardian Instructions and Affidavit form (included in the packet)*
• A certified copy of Letters of Guardianship/Conservatorship
• A certified copy of the Court Order appointing Guardian/Conservator
• An unsigned Receipt of Funds (if the Guardianship contains a blocked account)
• A copy of the Court Order showing the out-of-state Guardian/Conservator has been registered in Washington state (if applicable)

How to Provide the Documents

You have two different ways to submit your documents:

• Find a location to submit in person.
• Mail to:
  
  BECU Account Servicing M/S 1094-2
  P.O. Box 97050
  Seattle, WA 98124-9750

Application Process

The change request review and approval process takes approximately one week after we receive the required documents.

Additional Information

• The Social Security number (SSN) or Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) is required for the court-appointed guardian(s) and the legally incapacitated person.
• The incapacitated person must be eligible for BECU membership.
• The court-appointed guardian of a legally incapacitated person's estate is an individual or guardianship services organization that manages the financial affairs of the incapacitated person. BECU only reviews for guardianship of the incapacitated person's estate, not guardianship of the person. Guardianship over the person would not provide any financial powers.
• A monthly statement is generated for the guardianship accounts. It is mailed in the tax owner's name, in care of the guardian, to the primary address on file.
• Available guardianship account types: Member Share Savings, Savings, Checking, Money Market, and Certificate of Deposit (CD). A Member Share Savings account is required to establish membership for the guardianship.
• Guardianship accounts cannot be set up immediately because they require a document review before they can be set up.
• If the member had loans before they were deemed legally incapacitated and represented by a court-appointed guardian:
• BECU will revoke limits on any active personal Line of Credit or Visa accounts, with or without balances, so that funds can no longer be advanced.
• Existing Home Equity Line of Credit loans can only be closed if directed by the Guardian or if the borrower fails to meet the terms of repayment.
• Having a guardian assigned does not release the incapacitated person from any loan contracts that they entered into prior to being declared incapacitated by the court.
• Their estate is required to make the loan payments on existing loans until these loans are paid in full.
• Accounts can be set up with a single guardian or with multiple co-guardians. In the case of multiple co-guardians, in order to set up an account, the court will have had to grant the authority for the co-guardians to act independently of each other.
• While BECU will accept non-certified copies of your court documents, we must be able to verify that they have been filed with the appropriate court.
• If the guardianship has been established outside of Washington state, additional documents will be required. Please consult a Washington state attorney to assist you with registering the guardianship with a Washington state court and provide the copy of the court order showing the guardianship has been registered.