IRA beneficiaries

Before you get started

Consider talking to a financial professional, tax advisor or estate planner. They can help answer questions regarding the tax and estate-planning implications of your beneficiary designation.

When designating an account beneficiary, in addition to providing their name, you should include their relationship, address, date of birth and/or Social Security number.

Things to consider

• Beneficiary allocations must be provided in whole percentages and must equal 100%
• Some states require spousal consent to name a primary beneficiary other than the spouse. Consult with a tax advisor for additional information.
• Beneficiary updates replace all existing beneficiaries on the account, so you must specify all primary and contingent beneficiaries for the account. Partial updates are not allowed.
• Each IRA must have its own beneficiary designation
• Contact us for information on naming or changing beneficiaries on an inherited IRA

Types of IRA beneficiary designations

Primary beneficiary:

The primary beneficiary inherits the IRA after the IRA owner passes away.

Contingent beneficiary:

If all the primary beneficiaries pass away before the owner or disclaim the IRA, the contingent beneficiary inherits the IRA after the IRA owner’s death.

Subsequent beneficiary:

The subsequent beneficiary inherits any remaining assets upon the original beneficiary’s passing.

How to change your IRA beneficiary:

Traditional, Roth, SIMPLE and SEP IRA beneficiaries can be viewed and updated online or by completing the IRA Beneficiary Change form (PDF).

We recommend that you review your beneficiary designations regularly and keep this information up-to-date. In the event of your passing, if you haven’t named beneficiaries, or all named beneficiaries disclaim or pass away before you, the assets will be paid according to the Custodial Agreement default designation:

• The account owner’s spouse will be the beneficiary or, if none, the owner’s children equally
• If any child of the account owner passes away before the owner, that child’s share will be distributed to his or her children (the owner’s grandchildren) equally or, if none, the surviving children equally
• If none of the above survives the account owner, the beneficiary is the owner’s estate