How to Designate and Manage Beneficiaries

In this video will show you how to designate and manage beneficiaries

Designating and maintaining beneficiaries for your retirement account is crucial.

Keeping your beneficiary designations up-to-date ensures that your assets are distributed according to your wishes, avoiding probate and potential legal disputes. Remember to review your designations regularly, especially after life changes like marriage, divorce, or the birth of a child.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of adding, changing, or removing beneficiaries for your Entrust account.

Designating Beneficiaries:

1. 1. Navigate to the Beneficiary Form: After logging in to the Entrust Client Portal, you’ll land in the Dashboard tab. Scroll down and locate the account you want to manage beneficiaries for. Then, click on the “Beneficiaries” option. Click “Add Beneficiary(ies)”, click “OK,” and then click “Next.”
   2. Confirm Your Marital Status: Enter your marital status. This is important if you live in a community property state, as your spouse may be required to be the primary beneficiary. 
      1. If you live in a community property state but do not want your spouse as the primary beneficiary, you must complete and submit the Spousal Consent Form.
   3. Choose the Beneficiary Type: Specify whether the beneficiary is an individual or an entity (such as a trust). Indicate whether the beneficiary will be a Primary or Contingent beneficiary. 
      1. Primary beneficiaries receive the assets if they are alive when you pass away. 
      2. Contingent beneficiaries receive the assets if all primary beneficiaries have passed away before you do.
   4. Enter Beneficiary Information: Complete all fields marked with a red star (*), including the name and Social Security number of the beneficiary. If you don’t know the Social Security number, check the box, “Beneficiary doesn’t have an SSN.” To add additional beneficiaries, click the “Add Another Beneficiary” box.
   5. Adding a Trust as a Beneficiary (optional): If you’re designating a trust as a beneficiary, click “Yes” when asked. Before uploading the Certification of Trust, enter the trust’s details, including:
      1. Address: If no one will be living at your current address when you pass away, use an alternate address. 
      2. Contact Person: This should not be yourself; the contact person must be alive after you pass away. 
      3. Tax ID: If the trust does not have a tax ID, you can apply for one through the IRS website. 
   6. Review and Submit: Review all the information you’ve entered and the Acknowledgment section at the bottom of the page. Once satisfied, click “Submit” to complete your beneficiary designation. Beneficiary designations take about three to five business days to review and process.

Removing Beneficiaries:

You are not able to remove beneficiaries through the online portal. Instead, you’ll need to complete our Beneficiary Designation Form and submit it via email, fax, or mail according to the instructions on the form.

By following these steps, you can easily designate, manage or remove beneficiaries from your Entrust account.