How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at American Century

Mutual fund IRAs (Traditional, Rollover, Roth, Roth Conversion, Minor IRA, Minor Roth IRA) can take a beneficiary online, but a trust or other entity cannot be named online. That requires the paper Designation of Beneficiary form.¹

Workplace plans (403(b), 457(b), SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, SARSEP) can take a beneficiary online, and naming a trust or entity can be completed online.¹

Qualified employer retirement plans are out of scope: form CL-FRM-96342 tells the participant to call their employer instead.²

Brokerage accounts have no online beneficiary management; the Brokerage Designation of Beneficiary form is used. Taxable mutual fund accounts have no online option; the TOD Agreement is mailed.¹

TOD is accepted only on individual, joint tenants with rights of survivorship, and tenants by the entireties registrations, never on an IRA or other retirement plan.³

Brokerage TOD runs on a separate Pershing agreement, not the mutual fund TOD Agreement.^{4, 5}

A Coverdell ESA uses the separate CESA Designation of Death Beneficiary form.⁶

A trust can be named as beneficiary on either the retirement form or the TOD Agreement.^{2, 7}

The investor's estate may not be named as sole primary TOD beneficiary, and the investor's will may not be named as primary or secondary beneficiary.³

Primary and secondary beneficiaries are listed with percentages, and the total must equal 100%. Without percentages, assets split equally among the surviving beneficiaries in that class.^{1, 2}

Spousal consent may be required where the investor is married, lives in a community property state, and has not named the spouse as sole primary beneficiary. Notarized consent is generally required in a community property state.²

American Century states it is the investor's responsibility to determine whether consent is required, and it is not liable for consequences of failing to obtain it.²

403(b) plans subject to the ERISA QPSA rules require notarized spousal consent to name a non-spouse beneficiary regardless of state, and the designation is not valid without it.²

A Medallion Signature Guarantee may be required on the TOD Agreement at American Century's discretion if it has any question about the authenticity of the signature. A notary acknowledgement is not a substitute.⁷

Available to download.²

For investment accounts. Available to download.⁸

Return to

For investment accounts. Available to download.⁷

Return to

For investment accounts. Available to download.⁴

Return to

For investment accounts. Available to download.⁵

Return to

For coverdell education savings accounts. Available to download.⁶

Sent by the institution on request.²

A TOD direction must be made in writing on the American Century agreement, signed and delivered before the death of the investor or the last surviving joint owner.³

A conservator, custodian or attorney-in-fact cannot revoke or change a TOD direction except by court order, and a will cannot revoke it.³

A new retirement designation revokes every prior designation for the account types selected. Selecting no account types applies it to all retirement and beneficiary accounts.¹

A TOD beneficiary must survive the investor by 120 hours to take. If survival by 120 hours cannot be established, the beneficiary is treated as not having survived.³

Per stirpes is not available online, on the retirement designation form, or on the mutual fund TOD Agreement. A separate per stirpes form is available by phone.^{2, 7}

The Pershing brokerage TOD agreements carry a per stirpes checkbox for each beneficiary.^{4, 5}

The mutual fund TOD Agreement states a designation of a former spouse is revoked on dissolution.⁷

The retirement form warns that a former spouse designation may not be valid unless a new form is filed after the divorce is final.²

American Century's TOD Rules say mutual fund TOD registrations are accepted in Kansas City, Missouri and governed by Missouri law, with any dispute heard in Missouri courts.³

Louisiana residents may not use the brokerage TOD agreements (Individual BK-FRM-84152 and Joint BK-FRM-84150).^{4, 5}

Both revocable and irrevocable personal trusts are accepted.⁹

An IRA cannot be owned by or retitled into a trust. The trust is named as IRA beneficiary on form CL-FRM-96342 instead, and a mutual fund IRA trust beneficiary cannot be added through the online tool.²

A 403(b), a 457(b) or a business account does not use the Transfer of Ownership form; those use the separate Transfer of Shares Ownership form.¹⁰

For trust accounts. Available to download.⁹

Return to

Available to download.¹⁰

Return to

Sent by the institution on request.¹⁰

For investment accounts. Available to download.¹¹

Return to

For investment accounts. Available to download.¹²

Sent by the institution on request.¹³

American Century reports a re-registered account as a newly established account on its default Average Cost method; a Cost Basis Election Form sets a different method.¹⁰

American Century asks for the relevant pages of the trust agreement (title page, signature page, trustee and successor-trustee pages), not the full trust.^{9, 10}

If no trust Tax ID is provided, the first listed Social Security number is used for IRS reporting.^{9, 10}

Expect a new account number in many situations.¹⁰