What to do when a Beacon Pointe account holder dies
Contact Beacon Pointe's Private Wealth Management (estate plan review; delivered by your advisor, not a central desk) — 9-step process, 8 required documents, and set by the custodian, not by beacon pointe. a tod or named-beneficiary transfer typically completes in a few weeks once the custodian has the certified death certificate and its own signed forms; a trust account moves once the successor trustee is documented; an account with no tod and no trust waits on letters from the probate court and can take months. accounts at two custodians run on two independent clocks.
Beacon Pointe Advisors - Headquarters
Phone(949) 718-1600
Mailing Address
24 Corporate Plaza Drive, Suite 150, Newport Beach, CA 92660
WebsiteLearn more→
Private Wealth Management (estate plan review; delivered by your advisor, not a central desk)
Phone(949) 718-1600
WebsiteLearn more→
Your Beacon Pointe advisor (the firm has no claims department; the custodian pays the claim)
Phone(949) 718-1600
Mailing Address
Beacon Pointe Advisors, 24 Corporate Plaza Drive, Suite 150, Newport Beach, CA 92660
Compliance Department (document requests)
WebsiteNotify online→
Verified Jul 2026
What happens to Beacon Pointe investment accounts after the account holder dies depends on how each account was titled. Beneficiary-designated and trust-owned accounts transfer directly. Accounts in the deceased's name alone go through the estate, and the executor or administrator works with Beacon Pointe's Private Wealth Management (estate plan review; delivered by your advisor, not a central desk) ((949) 718-1600) to claim the funds.
Death claims at Beacon Pointe can be started through an online portal, which streamlines the initial notification and document upload. Phone and mail options are also available.
Death claim process
Follow these steps to file a death claim with Beacon Pointe:
Filing a claim
1
Call the decedent's Beacon Pointe advisor, or the headquarters line at (949) 718-1600, and report the death. There is no Beacon Pointe claims department and no Beacon Pointe death-claim form — the advisor is the coordinator, and the CUSTODIAN pays the claim. Find the office on the locator
2
Have the advisor produce the map of the estate before you file anything:
- Which custodian holds each account — Schwab, Fidelity, SEI Private Trust Company, Pershing, Raymond James, or (for some accounts of acquired firms) HSBC
- How each account is registered — individual, joint with survivorship, trust-titled, IRA, or a private fund interest for which Beacon Pointe GP, LLC is the general partner
- Whether a TOD registration or beneficiary designation is on file at the custodian for each account
3
Ask the advisor to notify each custodian of the death so discretionary trading and the standing fee-deduction and money-movement authorizations are addressed. The advisor's discretionary authority runs from an advisory agreement that ends at death; the custodian is the party that restricts the account
4
Order certified death certificates — each custodian will want its own certified copy, so an estate spread across two custodians needs at least two
5
Then file with each CUSTODIAN, on that custodian's forms, along the path the registration dictates:
- TOD-registered taxable account: the named beneficiary claims directly from the custodian; the account never enters probate
- Joint account with right of survivorship: the survivor re-registers the account with a certified death certificate
- Trust-titled account: the successor trustee documents authority to the custodian with a certification of trust, the death certificate, and ID, then directs the account; Beacon Pointe continues as adviser at the successor trustee's direction
- IRA / Roth / Rollover / SEP / SIMPLE: the beneficiary on file with the CUSTODIAN opens an inherited IRA there — that designation beats the will and the trust; SECURE Act payout rules then apply
- Individually titled account with no TOD and no trust: the executor produces Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration to the custodian, which re-registers the account into the estate's name
- Private fund interest (Beacon Pointe GP, LLC as general partner): no TOD registration exists — ask the advisor for the fund's partnership agreement transfer provisions and the administrator's transfer paperwork
- Employer plan advised under the Retirement Plan Services platform: the claim goes to the plan recordkeeper under the plan document, not to a Beacon Pointe custodian
6
Ask the custodian, through the advisor, for the date-of-death valuation of every position. That figure sets the beneficiary's stepped-up cost basis on taxable accounts and belongs in the estate inventory. Retirement accounts get no step-up
7
Expect the custodian to set the mechanics: its own transfer/distribution forms, its own signature-guarantee or Medallion rules, its own processing window. Beacon Pointe cannot waive or shortcut those, but the advisor can chase the submission
8
Once assets move to an inherited or trust account, decide with the advisor whether Beacon Pointe should continue managing them — the decedent's advisory agreement does not automatically bind an heir
9
Beacon Pointe publishes a "What to Do When a Loved One Passes" guide and an "Organizing Vital Family Information" guide at beaconpointe.com/losing-a-loved-one (request form at info.beaconpointe.com/losing-a-loved-one); the firm frames the work as separating what must be done immediately from what can wait weeks or months
Required Documents
- Certified copy of the death certificate — one per custodian holding an account
- Government-issued photo ID for the claimant
- The custodian's own transfer / distribution / inherited-IRA / estate-registration forms (Schwab, Fidelity, SEI Private Trust Company, Pershing, or Raymond James — Beacon Pointe has no death-claim form of its own)
- Certification of Trust plus the successor-trustee provisions (trust-titled accounts)
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (individually titled accounts with no TOD registration)
- Small estate affidavit where the state and the account value allow it (the custodian decides whether it accepts one in place of Letters)
- Signature guarantee or Medallion stamp where the custodian requires it
- Fund transfer paperwork from the fund administrator, for a private fund interest
What to know at this institution
Beacon Pointe is a registered investment adviser, not a custodian, not a broker-dealer, and not a trust company: it has no claims department, no claims phone line, and no death-claim form. What the ADVISER does: identifies every account and its registration, notifies the custodians, produces the right custodian forms, obtains date-of-death valuations, and advises the survivors. What the CUSTODIAN does: restricts the account, verifies the death certificate and the claimant's authority, applies its own signature-guarantee rules, and actually transfers or distributes the assets. Per Form ADV Part 2A (March 31, 2026) the custodians are Charles Schwab & Co., Fidelity, SEI Private Trust Company, Pershing Advisor Solutions, and Raymond James & Associates, with HSBC holding certain legacy accounts of acquired firms; Wrap Fee Program accounts are at Schwab, Fidelity, or Pershing. Beacon Pointe is deemed to have limited custody only in the fee-deduction and standing-letter-of-authorization sense (Item 15) — that is not custody of the assets. Interests in the firm's private funds (Beacon Pointe GP, LLC as general partner) do not transfer like securities and follow the fund agreement. The firm's planning services expressly exclude preparing estate tax returns or any legal documents, including wills and trusts. For document requests or regulatory questions, the Compliance Department is (949) 718-1600 / info-compliance@beaconpointe.com.
Prepare your letter of instruction to Beacon Pointe
Beacon Pointe accepts a claimant-drafted letter of instruction. We draft it for you — addressed to Beacon Pointe's verified claims department, with the documents it requires enclosed.
Build your letter of instructionExpected timelines at Beacon Pointe: Set by the custodian, not by Beacon Pointe. A TOD or named-beneficiary transfer typically completes in a few weeks once the custodian has the certified death certificate and its own signed forms; a trust account moves once the successor trustee is documented; an account with no TOD and no trust waits on Letters from the probate court and can take months. Accounts at two custodians run on two independent clocks. Delays are almost always caused by incomplete paperwork—gathering all required documents before filing the initial claim helps avoid back-and-forth.
Documentation required by Beacon Pointe includes Certified copy of the death certificate — one per custodian holding an account, Government-issued photo ID for the claimant, and The custodian's own transfer / distribution / inherited-IRA / estate-registration forms (Schwab, Fidelity, SEI Private Trust Company, Pershing, or Raymond James — Beacon Pointe has no death-claim form of its own), along with additional paperwork that varies by account type. All death certificates and court documents must be certified copies.
Frequently asked questions
Beacon Pointe is a registered investment adviser and does not custody client assets. Per its Form ADV Part 2A (March 31, 2026), accounts are held at Charles Schwab, Fidelity, SEI Private Trust Company, Pershing Advisor Solutions, or Raymond James & Associates, and Wrap Fee Program accounts are held at Schwab, Fidelity, or Pershing. That means there is no Beacon Pointe claims department and no Beacon Pointe death-claim form. You call the advisor — (949) 718-1600, or the local office on the firm locator — and the advisor identifies the accounts, notifies the custodian, and produces the custodian's forms. The certified death certificate and the signed transfer paperwork go to the CUSTODIAN, which is the party that verifies authority and moves the money.
Yes, in volume rather than in kind. Because Beacon Pointe advises but does not custody, each custodian holding an account runs its own death process — its own forms, its own certified death certificate, its own signature-guarantee or Medallion requirement, and its own timeline. An estate whose accounts sit at Schwab and at Fidelity needs a full package filed at each, and the two run on independent clocks. Order enough certified death certificates for every custodian. The Beacon Pointe advisor is the single point of coordination who tells you which custodian holds what and gets the right form in front of you, but the advisor cannot file one claim covering both.
The IRA is custodied at the third-party custodian, so the inherited IRA is opened and the distribution is processed on that custodian's platform. The beneficiary designation on file with the CUSTODIAN controls who inherits, ahead of the will and ahead of the trust — an out-of-date designation is not cured by an up-to-date estate plan. Inherited IRAs follow the SECURE Act rules, including the ten-year payout window that applies to most non-spouse beneficiaries. Your Beacon Pointe advisor can manage the inherited account and plan the distribution schedule around the tax consequences, but the beneficiary claim forms are the custodian's.
Coordination and planning, not payment. The advisor identifies every account and how it was registered, notifies each custodian, produces the custodian's transfer, inherited-IRA, or estate-registration forms, obtains date-of-death valuations for the estate inventory and the cost-basis step-up on taxable accounts (retirement accounts get no step-up), and flags anything that will not transfer like a security — notably an interest in a private fund for which Beacon Pointe GP, LLC is the general partner, which transfers under the fund agreement. The firm publishes a "What to Do When a Loved One Passes" guide and an "Organizing Vital Family Information" guide at beaconpointe.com/losing-a-loved-one. What the advisor does not do: hold the assets, pay a claim, act as trustee, or draft legal documents — the Form ADV expressly excludes preparing estate tax returns, wills, and trusts.
Beacon Pointe's Your Beacon Pointe advisor (the firm has no claims department; the custodian pays the claim) can be reached by phone at (949) 718-1600 and email at info-compliance@beaconpointe.com for questions throughout the claims process.
When the deceased had multiple Beacon Pointe investment accounts, some may need separate claims while others can be handled together. The Private Wealth Management (estate plan review; delivered by your advisor, not a central desk) can clarify what's needed for each account type.
Sources
Data sourced from Beacon Pointe primary sources (15 pages reviewed). How we research.
Beacon Pointe Advisors - Headquarters
Phone(949) 718-1600
Mailing Address
24 Corporate Plaza Drive, Suite 150, Newport Beach, CA 92660
WebsiteLearn more→
Private Wealth Management (estate plan review; delivered by your advisor, not a central desk)
Phone(949) 718-1600
WebsiteLearn more→
Your Beacon Pointe advisor (the firm has no claims department; the custodian pays the claim)
Phone(949) 718-1600
Mailing Address
Beacon Pointe Advisors, 24 Corporate Plaza Drive, Suite 150, Newport Beach, CA 92660
Compliance Department (document requests)
WebsiteNotify online→
Verified Jul 2026
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