How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Ameritas
Beneficiaries are managed online, by phone or by mail. Trust paperwork is taken online, by phone or by mail
Beneficiary designations are the foundation of estate planning for Ameritas policies. Unlike bank accounts, insurance products cannot be retitled into a trust. Instead, the beneficiary designation itself determines who receives the proceeds and how quickly they're paid. Naming a trust as beneficiary is an option when more control over distributions is needed.
Across 24 product types, Ameritas policies vary in how they transfer at death. The sections below walk through beneficiary designations, trust funding options, and which products support each method.
Beneficiary form at Ameritas
Beneficiary Change Form.
- Primary and contingent beneficiary full legal names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and relationships
- Percentage allocations totaling 100% for each class of beneficiary
- For trusts: select trust as the beneficiary type and provide the full trust name, date established, and EIN
- Policy number, insured information, and owner details
- Primary beneficiaries with full legal names, dates of birth, relationships, and percentage allocations totaling 100%
- Contingent beneficiaries if desired with their own percentage allocations totaling 100%
- For trusts: provide the full legal trust name, date established, and EIN
Required Documents
- Beneficiary's full legal name (for each primary and contingent beneficiary)
- Beneficiary's date of birth (for each primary and contingent beneficiary)
- Beneficiary's Social Security number (for each primary and contingent beneficiary, on the online form)
- Beneficiary's relationship (for each primary and contingent beneficiary)
- Trust's full legal name, date established, trustee names and EIN (when naming a trust). The trust name is written exactly as it appears in the trust document
- Policy number, insured information and owner details (on the form)
- Policy number and personal identification information (when requesting the form by phone)
- Beneficiary Change Form, completed and signed
- Full trust name, date established, trustee information, and EIN
- Include a copy of the trust document or certification of trust for ownership changes
- Full legal trust name, date established, trustee names, and EIN
- Full legal trust name exactly as it appears in the trust document
- Date established, trustee name(s), and EIN
- For ownership changes: complete the ownership change section naming the trust as the new policy owner
Required Documents
- Policyowner's Change and Service Request form, completed (for an ILIT ownership transfer)
- Trust document or certification of trust. Ameritas accepts the complete trust document or a certification of trust
- Trust name, date established, trustee names and EIN
- Trustee identification documents
- Trust EIN documentation. IRS Letter 147C or SS-4 confirmation
What Ameritas says about beneficiaries and trusts
Each section is Ameritas's own statement, with the document it comes from numbered under Sources.
Who can be named1
How many beneficiaries, and how shares are split
- All accounts
Primary and contingent beneficiaries are each given a percentage, and the percentages for each class must total 100%.1
What a designation takes to be effective
Beneficiary forms Ameritas issues1
- Beneficiary Change Form
Completed by the policy owner. Completed online.1
Return to
Mailing address: Ameritas Life Insurance Corp., PO Box 81889, Lincoln, NE 68501
What Ameritas's agreement says about beneficiaries2
- A designation and a will
Beneficiary designations override instructions in a will.1
- Who can see the designation
A policy owner can sign an Interested Third Party Release Authorization form, from the same Forms tab, so Ameritas may release policy information to a named third party without the owner on the phone. It does not let that person make changes.1
Which accounts a trust can hold2
Trust account forms Ameritas issues1
- Policyowner's Change and Service Request form
Completed by the policy owner. Completed online.1
Return to
Mailing address: Ameritas Life Insurance Corp., PO Box 81889, Lincoln, NE 68501
What Ameritas says about trust accounts1
- A trust as owner of a policy
Ameritas does not establish ILITs.1
Not in Ameritas's published guidance1
- A beneficiary form to download
Sources1
Sources
Data sourced from Ameritas primary sources (15 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these Ameritas instructions
Download instructions for the whole estateA printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details — verified against Ameritas primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
Ameritas estate support
Policy Service (ownership, beneficiary and third-party authorization forms)
Phone
New York policies
Hours
Mailing address
Website
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