For some credit unions, it continues to take a whole lot of arm twisting to prove that offering trust services to their members is really worth the effort and time commitment needed to see a steady return on investment.

The fallout from the recession coupled with the alignment of other factors may have led to an increased urgency for credit unions to reconsider trust services, according to a new report from the Filene Research Institute. "Credit Union Implications of Living Trusts" offers a quantitative look at trends in trust creation and detailed breakdowns of who is most likely to open trust accounts.

While there is an increased focus on wooing younger people to credit unions, the average member age is still in the mid-forties. That range nearly mirrors what Filene discovered: About one in 10 U.S. households with an adult at least 50 years old has a living trust and the average trust holder is 72 years old. That person has 14 years of formal education, about $1 million in nonhousing wealth and three children.