Estate planning at American Century
How to protect 12 American Century accounts — manage beneficiaries online, fund a trust online, and file claims through American Century's Estate Transfer Team / Legacy Planning
American Century Investments, PO Box 419200, Kansas City, MO 64141
Estate Transfer Team / Legacy Planning
Estate Transfer Team
American Century Investments, PO Box 419200, Kansas City, MO 64141-6200 (overnight: 801 Pennsylvania Ave., Suite 419200, Kansas City, MO 64105-1307)
American Century has 12 investment accounts, each with different rules for what happens when the account holder dies. Of those, 11 can name a trust as beneficiary or be retitled into a trust. The right combination of beneficiary designations and trust ownership can keep the entire portfolio out of probate.
Beneficiary designations at American Century can be managed online, by mail, and by phone, typically taking 15-20 minutes online; longer by mail if a Medallion Signature Guarantee is required. Trust funding is also available, allowing families to retitle brokerage accounts into a trust.
American Century has documented procedures for both preparing accounts during your lifetime and handling claims when an account holder passes away.
Preparing your estate
Beneficiaries and trust funding
How to manage beneficiaries online, fund a trust online, and review 12 account types at American Century.
View details →When someone dies
Death claim process
Contact American Century's Estate Transfer Team / Legacy Planning to file a claim. 7-step process, 8 required documents, and contact information for survivors.
View details →For questions about any of these procedures, contact American Century's Estate Transfer Team / Legacy Planning at 1-800-345-2021.
Frequently asked questions
Use the Transfer of Ownership form to re-register an existing non-retirement account into the trust, and send the trust title page, signature page, and the pages identifying all trustees. Read the signature-guarantee table on that form before you mail it: a transfer into a trust whose trustees are the same as the current account owners is listed as requiring no guarantee, while transfers to a different trust, to a non-trust account, or by former trustees require a Medallion Signature Guarantee. Provide the trust Tax ID -- without it, American Century reports under the first Social Security number listed. An IRA can never be retitled into a trust; name the trust as the IRA beneficiary instead.
Sources
Data sourced from American Century primary sources (21 pages reviewed). How we research.
American Century Investments, PO Box 419200, Kansas City, MO 64141
Estate Transfer Team / Legacy Planning
Estate Transfer Team
American Century Investments, PO Box 419200, Kansas City, MO 64141-6200 (overnight: 801 Pennsylvania Ave., Suite 419200, Kansas City, MO 64105-1307)
Estate planning articles
Learn how to protect your American Century accounts and other assets with trusts, beneficiary designations, and estate planning documents.
