Estate planning with Aflac policies centers on beneficiary designations—the single most important step for ensuring life insurance proceeds and annuity benefits reach the intended recipients without probate involvement. Unlike bank or brokerage accounts, insurance products are not retitled into trusts; instead, trusts are named as beneficiaries when estate tax planning or controlled distributions are needed.

With 11 product types, Aflac offers a range of transfer options. Some policies support beneficiary designations, others can be retitled into a trust, and some require probate if no beneficiary is designated. The sections below break down each step.

Aflac Whole Life InsuranceAflac Term Life InsuranceAflac Final Expense Whole Life InsuranceAflac Juvenile Life InsuranceAflac Accident InsuranceAflac Cancer InsuranceAflac Critical Illness InsuranceAflac Hospital InsuranceAflac Dental InsuranceAflac Supplemental Dental InsuranceAflac Short-Term Disability Insurance

1Log in to your MyAflac account at mylogin.aflac.com

2Click on Policy Summary/Forms/History for the policy you want to update

3Click Change Beneficiary Online in the right-hand section under Online Policy Changes

4Add primary beneficiaries with full legal names, dates of birth, relationships, and percentage allocations totaling 100%

5Optionally add contingent beneficiaries with their own percentage allocations totaling 100%

6For trusts: select trust as beneficiary type and provide the full legal trust name, date established, and trust EIN

7Review and confirm your beneficiary designations

Online Portal →

Required Documents

Trust name, date established, and tax ID (EIN or SSN)

Special Requirements

You can name individuals, trusts, or qualifying charitable organizations as beneficiaries
Multiple primary and contingent beneficiaries can be designated
Percentage allocations must total 100% for each beneficiary tier
Supplemental policies (accident, cancer, critical illness) also allow beneficiary designations
Beneficiary designations override instructions in a will
Only the policyholder can change beneficiary designations
Children under 18 cannot receive benefits directly; name a custodian or trust instead
New York policyholders use a separate form: ny-request-for-beneficiary-change.pdf