Estate planning at BlackRock
How to protect 17 BlackRock accounts — manage beneficiaries online, fund a trust online, and file claims through BlackRock's Mutual Fund Services (Estate & Death Claims)
Mutual Fund Services
BlackRock Funds, P.O. Box 534429, Pittsburgh, PA 15253-4429
Mutual Fund Services (Estate & Death Claims)
BlackRock Funds, P.O. Box 534429, Pittsburgh, PA 15253-4429
Mutual Fund Services
BlackRock Funds, P.O. Box 534429, Pittsburgh, PA 15253-4429
BlackRock offers 17 consumer investment accounts that interact with estate planning in distinct ways. Of those, 13 can name a trust as beneficiary or be retitled into a trust. Understanding the transfer methods available for each account type helps families keep assets out of probate and ensure they pass to the right people.
BlackRock lets account holders update beneficiary designations online, by mail, and by phone, typically taking 15-30 minutes. Trust funding is also available, allowing families to retitle brokerage accounts into a trust.
There are two sides to estate planning at BlackRock: setting things up while you're alive, and the process survivors follow after a death.
Preparing your estate
Beneficiaries and trust funding
How to manage beneficiaries online, fund a trust online, and review 17 account types at BlackRock.
View details →When someone dies
Death claim process
Contact BlackRock's Mutual Fund Services (Estate & Death Claims) to file a claim. 7-step process, 10 required documents, and contact information for survivors.
View details →Reach BlackRock's Mutual Fund Services (Estate & Death Claims) at 1-800-441-7762 for help with any of these procedures.
Frequently asked questions
iShares ETFs and iShares LifePath Target Date ETFs trade on exchanges and are held at your brokerage -- not directly at BlackRock. For TOD designations, trust retitling, or beneficiary designations on these ETFs, contact the brokerage where you hold the shares (such as Fidelity, Schwab, or Vanguard). BlackRock manages the iShares funds but does not maintain individual investor accounts for ETFs. Call 1-800-474-2737 for iShares ETF information.
BlackRock direct mutual fund accounts are held directly at BlackRock and managed through the my.accessportals.com portal. For these accounts, you work with BlackRock directly to add TOD registrations, retitle to a trust, or update beneficiary designations using BlackRock's own forms. iShares ETFs and iShares LifePath ETFs, on the other hand, trade on exchanges and are held at your brokerage (such as Fidelity, Schwab, or Vanguard). For estate planning on iShares ETFs, you must contact the brokerage where the shares are held -- BlackRock does not maintain individual investor accounts for ETFs. The same applies to BlackRock closed-end funds, which also trade on exchanges.
Sources
Data sourced from BlackRock primary sources (21 pages reviewed). How we research.
Mutual Fund Services
BlackRock Funds, P.O. Box 534429, Pittsburgh, PA 15253-4429
Mutual Fund Services (Estate & Death Claims)
BlackRock Funds, P.O. Box 534429, Pittsburgh, PA 15253-4429
Mutual Fund Services
BlackRock Funds, P.O. Box 534429, Pittsburgh, PA 15253-4429
Estate planning articles
Learn how to protect your BlackRock accounts and other assets with trusts, beneficiary designations, and estate planning documents.
