How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Delaware Life

A contract with a non-natural owner (a trust, corporation or nonprofit) must list the owner as the sole primary beneficiary. A change naming anyone else on a trust-owned contract is not accepted in good order.¹

A trust can be named as beneficiary on both qualified and non-qualified contracts, with its full name, the date of the trust and its Tax ID.¹

Each beneficiary is named primary or contingent with a percentage. Percentages within each class must total 100%, with up to two decimal places.¹

Multiple beneficiaries in the same class share equally unless the owner directs otherwise.¹

A change submitted by an attorney-in-fact needs a notarized Attorney-in-Fact Affidavit when the signature on the power of attorney is more than 1 year old.²

A change submitted by a court-appointed fiduciary needs a notarized Court-Appointed Fiduciary Affidavit when the signature date on the court documents is more than 5 years old.³

For annuitys. Available to download.¹

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For annuitys. Available to download.⁴

Sent by the institution on request. Must be notarized.²

Sent by the institution on request. Must be notarized.³

The Beneficiary Change form cancels all previously submitted primary and contingent designations. It replaces rather than supplements them, so every beneficiary who should remain must be listed again on the new form.¹

All primary and contingent designations in effect during the accumulation phase are revoked automatically when the income phase of the contract begins, so annuitizing ends the designation.¹

If no beneficiary is named, or no primary or contingent beneficiary survives the owner, the form states that any amounts payable are paid to the owner's estate.¹

If a beneficiary who is a natural person dies before the owner, that share is split proportionally among the surviving beneficiaries of the same class unless the owner instructed otherwise.¹

On a contract with a living benefit carrying joint life coverage, removing a spouse as sole primary beneficiary converts the coverage to single life, but the joint life fee continues.⁴

Ownership changes are allowed on non-qualified contracts only. An IRA or other qualified contract cannot be retitled to a trust.⁵

A contract changing to a non-natural owner such as a trust defaults to having that owner as the primary beneficiary, as the contract requires.⁵

For annuitys. Available to download.⁵

Return to

Available to download.⁶

Return to

Available to download.⁷

Return to

Available to download.⁸

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A person and an entity cannot share ownership of an annuity, so the trust must take sole ownership. A joint owner must be the spouse of the owner.⁵

The ownership change is effective as of the date the form is signed, subject to Delaware Life receiving it in good order and acknowledging the change.⁵

On the Trustee Affidavit the trust elects whether trustees must act together or may act independently. If neither box is checked, the form authorizes Delaware Life to accept the instructions of any one trustee as binding on the trust.⁷

The Charitable Remainder Trust Waiver records that if the current trustee resigns, it is the trust's responsibility to find a new one.⁸

Delaware Life says it does not issue tax returns for an entity that owns a contract and issues only a Form 1099-R reflecting withdrawals. The entity computes its own reportable income from the quarterly annuity performance statement.⁹