How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Auto-Owners Life
Beneficiaries are managed in branch, by phone or by mail. Trust paperwork is taken in branch or by mail
Estate planning with Auto-Owners Life 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.
Each of Auto-Owners Life's 5 policies has different rules for how it transfers at death. The sections below explain the options for each.
Beneficiary form at Auto-Owners Life
Auto-Owners beneficiary change form.
- Policy number and insured information
- Primary beneficiaries with full legal names, dates of birth, relationships, and percentage allocations totaling 100%
- Contingent beneficiaries if desired
- Full legal trust name exactly as written in the trust document
- Date the trust was established
- Trust tax identification number
- Trustee name as the contact for the trust
- The percentage allocation (100% if the trust is the sole beneficiary)
- A representative will mail the form or direct you to the servicing agent
- Complete and return it by mail or through the agent
- Policy number and insured information
- Primary beneficiaries with full legal names, dates of birth, relationships, and percentage allocations totaling 100%
- Contingent beneficiaries if desired, with their own percentage allocations
- Full legal trust name exactly as it appears in the trust document
- Date the trust was established
- Trust tax identification number
- Trustee name as the contact
Required Documents
- Completed Auto-Owners beneficiary change form
- Policy number and insured information
- Each beneficiary's full legal name, date of birth and relationship
- Trust name, date established and trust tax identification number (when naming a trust). The full legal trust name exactly as written in the trust document
- Trustee name as the contact for the trust (when naming a trust)
Required Documents
- Certificate of trust or trust abstract
- Trust EIN documentation. IRS Letter 147C or SS-4 confirmation
- Trustee identification
- Ownership change or assignment paperwork (only when transferring policy ownership to an ILIT)
What Auto-Owners Life says about beneficiaries and trusts
Each section is Auto-Owners Life's own statement, with the document it comes from numbered under Sources.
Who can be named1
- A trust
A trust can be named as policy beneficiary, so the death benefit pays into the trust.1
How many beneficiaries, and how shares are split
- All accounts
Primary and contingent beneficiaries each take a percentage allocation, and the percentages must total 100% for each beneficiary tier.1
What a designation takes to be effective
- All accounts
Only the policy owner can change a beneficiary designation. On a policy owned by an ILIT, the owner is the trustee, not the insured.1
Beneficiary forms Auto-Owners Life issues1
- Auto-Owners beneficiary change form
Completed by the policy owner. Sent by the institution on request.1
Return to
Mailing address: Auto-Owners Life Insurance Company, 6101 Anacapri Blvd., Lansing, MI 48917
What Auto-Owners Life's agreement says about beneficiaries3
- Changing or revoking a designation
All beneficiary changes are submitted in writing on Auto-Owners' own form through the servicing agent.1
- A designation and a will
A beneficiary designation controls over instructions in a will.1
- Online access
Beneficiary changes cannot be made online. Auto-Owners online access covers billing, policy documents and claim tracking, not beneficiary designations.2
Which accounts a trust can hold2
- Life insurance policy
An Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust can own an Auto-Owners life policy.1
- Annuity
An annuity contract can also be owned by a trust. The servicing agent supplies the ownership change forms.1
Trust account forms Auto-Owners Life issues1
- Ownership change or assignment paperwork
Completed by the policy owner. Sent by the institution on request.1
What Auto-Owners Life says about trust accounts1
- Online access
Because every life product is agent-distributed, none of this can be done online. The servicing independent agent supplies and submits the paperwork.1
Not in Auto-Owners Life's published guidance2
- A beneficiary form to download
- A service standard for processing
Sources2
- 1.Auto-Owners life insurance guidance
- 2.Auto-Owners online access
Sources
Data sourced from Auto-Owners Life primary sources (14 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these Auto-Owners Life instructions
Download instructions for the whole estateA printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details — verified against Auto-Owners Life primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
Auto-Owners Life estate support
Auto-Owners Insurance
Phone
Life & Health service (life and disability income policies)
Property & Casualty billing
Life and disability income payments by IVR
Fax
Hours
Mailing address
Website
Estate requests go through general customer service.
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