How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at D.A. Davidson
Beneficiaries are managed in branch or by mail. Trust paperwork is taken in branch or by mail
Preparing your D.A. Davidson investment accounts for estate transfer involves two primary strategies: designating beneficiaries on individual accounts and, where supported, retitling accounts into a revocable living trust. Both approaches bypass probate, but they work differently depending on the account type.
D.A. Davidson has 18 product types, and the estate transfer rules differ across them. Some support Transfer on Death (TOD) designations, some can be retitled into a trust, and others pass through the estate if nothing is set up. Each is covered below.
Beneficiary form at D.A. Davidson
Transfer on Death Agreement and Beneficiary Designation (for investment accounts) and IRA Beneficiary Designation Form (for IRAs).
- Provide each beneficiary's full legal name, date of birth, SSN, relationship, address, and percentage allocation
- Designate primary and contingent beneficiaries with allocations totaling 100%
- Contact your D.A. Davidson financial professional by phone
- Advisor mails or provides the TOD Agreement (brokerage) or IRA Beneficiary Designation form (retirement)
Required Documents
- Each beneficiary's full legal name
- Each beneficiary's date of birth
- Each beneficiary's Social Security number
- Each beneficiary's relationship to the owner
- Each beneficiary's address
- Each beneficiary's percentage allocation
- Government-issued photo ID (at the financial professional's office)
- TOD Agreement or IRA Beneficiary Designation form, completed and signed (by mail)
- Certified copy of the trust agreement or Certificate of Trust
- Government-issued photo ID for all trustees
- Trust tax identification number (EIN or SSN for grantor trusts)
- Contact your D.A. Davidson financial professional by phone
- Advisor mails the account retitling or new trust account application forms
- Certified copy of the trust agreement or Certificate of Trust
- Copies of government-issued ID for all trustees
- Trust tax identification number (EIN or SSN for grantor trusts)
Required Documents
- Certified copy of the trust agreement or Certificate of Trust. A revocable living, irrevocable, testamentary or charitable trust document is accepted, or a Certificate of Trust
- Government-issued ID (for all trustees). Photo ID at a meeting; copies by mail
- Trust tax identification number. An EIN, or the SSN for a grantor trust
- Completed account retitling or new trust account application forms
- Separate trust onboarding documentation (if D.A. Davidson Trust Company will serve as trustee)
- Provide each beneficiary's full legal name, date of birth, SSN, relationship, address, and percentage allocation
- Designate primary and contingent beneficiaries with allocations totaling 100%
- Contact your D.A. Davidson financial professional by phone
- Advisor mails or provides the TOD Agreement (brokerage) or IRA Beneficiary Designation form (retirement)
Required Documents
- Each beneficiary's full legal name
- Each beneficiary's date of birth
- Each beneficiary's Social Security number
- Each beneficiary's relationship to the owner
- Each beneficiary's address
- Each beneficiary's percentage allocation
- Government-issued photo ID (at the financial professional's office)
- TOD Agreement or IRA Beneficiary Designation form, completed and signed (by mail)
- Provide each beneficiary's full legal name, date of birth, SSN, relationship, address, and percentage allocation
- Designate primary and contingent beneficiaries with allocations totaling 100%
- Contact your D.A. Davidson financial professional by phone
- Advisor mails or provides the TOD Agreement (brokerage) or IRA Beneficiary Designation form (retirement)
Required Documents
- Each beneficiary's full legal name
- Each beneficiary's date of birth
- Each beneficiary's Social Security number
- Each beneficiary's relationship to the owner
- Each beneficiary's address
- Each beneficiary's percentage allocation
- Government-issued photo ID (at the financial professional's office)
- TOD Agreement or IRA Beneficiary Designation form, completed and signed (by mail)
What D.A. Davidson says about beneficiaries and trusts
Each section is D.A. Davidson's own statement, with the document it comes from numbered under Sources.
Who can be named1
- A trust, IRAs
A trust can be named as IRA beneficiary.1
How many beneficiaries, and how shares are split
- All accounts
Primary and contingent beneficiaries can be designated, each with a percentage allocation, with allocations totaling 100%.2
Beneficiary forms D.A. Davidson issues2
What D.A. Davidson's agreement says about beneficiaries2
- A designation and a will
A TOD designation supersedes the will's provisions for the account.2
Which accounts a trust can hold2
- Investment account
Trusts and estates are named client types for every D.A. Davidson advisory program, so retitling an advisory account into a trust does not force it out of its program.3
The Cash Management Program applies to accounts held "whether as an individual, joint tenant, trustee, executor, custodian or in any other capacity."4
- IRA
An IRA cannot be retitled to a trust.1
Trust account forms D.A. Davidson issues1
- Account retitling or new trust account application forms
Sent by the institution on request.1
Accounts handled elsewhere2
- D.A. Davidson Trust Company
Corporate trustee services and trust administration, as a separate subsidiary1
Phone: 1-800-634-5526
- D.A. Davidson Trust Services, Inc.
Custodian for IRA and 403(b) accounts; IRA beneficiary paperwork is processed against it2
Not in D.A. Davidson's published guidance2
- An online way to name a beneficiary
- A beneficiary form to download
Sources4
- 1.Trust Services
- 2.Contact Us
- 3.Form ADV Part 2A Appendix 1 Wrap Fee Program Brochure, July 30, 2026
- 4.Cash Management Program Disclosure Statement, effective March 2, 2026
Sources
Data sourced from D.A. Davidson primary sources (23 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these D.A. Davidson instructions
Download instructions for the whole estateA printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details — verified against D.A. Davidson primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
D.A. Davidson estate support
D.A. Davidson Trust Company
Phone
Mailing address
Website
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