Estate planning at Edelman Financial
How to protect 8 Edelman Financial accounts — manage beneficiaries online, fund a trust in-branch, and file claims through Edelman Financial's Estate Planning Services (planner-delivered; EFE does not draft legal documents)
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Edelman Financial Engines (main line)
Phone1-833-752-6333
Toll-Free1-833-752-6333
Existing clients (advisors, weekdays 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. ET)
Employers / workplace plan inquiries (Workingwithus@EdelmanFinancialEngines.com)
WebsiteLearn more→
Estate Planning Services (planner-delivered; EFE does not draft legal documents)
Phone1-800-601-5957
Toll-Free1-800-601-5957
WebsiteLearn more→
No EFE claims department -- notify the planner, then file the claim with the custodian (Schwab, Fidelity, or Axos Advisor Services) or the workplace plan recordkeeper
Phone1-800-601-5957
Toll-Free1-800-601-5957
Charles Schwab Estate Services / Inheritance Center (custodian)
Fidelity inheritance and beneficiary services (custodian)
WebsiteNotify online→
Verified Jul 2026
Edelman Financial offers 8 consumer investment accounts that interact with estate planning in distinct ways. Of those, 8 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.
Beneficiary designations at Edelman Financial can be managed online, in branch, and by phone, typically taking 15-30 minutes on the custodian platform; longer if a planner routes a paper form. Trust funding is also available, allowing families to retitle brokerage accounts into a trust.
Edelman Financial provides specific procedures for both proactive estate planning and filing claims after a death.
Preparing your estate
Beneficiaries and trust funding
How to manage beneficiaries online, fund a trust in-branch, and review 8 account types at Edelman Financial.
View details →When someone dies
Death claim process
Contact Edelman Financial's Estate Planning Services (planner-delivered; EFE does not draft legal documents) to file a claim. 7-step process, 7 required documents, and contact information for survivors.
View details →Reach Edelman Financial's Estate Planning Services (planner-delivered; EFE does not draft legal documents) at 1-800-601-5957 for help with any of these procedures. Email inquiries can be sent to advisor@EdelmanFinancialEngines.com.
Frequently asked questions
Through the custodian, not through EFE. For a wealth/retail account, log in to Schwab or Fidelity (or, for Axos Advisor Services, have your planner route the form) and file the beneficiary or TOD election there. For a workplace 401(k), 403(b), or 457(b), file it with the plan recordkeeper through the employer's plan portal -- and remember that under ERISA a married participant's spouse takes the 401(k) unless the spouse consents in writing to someone else. Call your planner or (800) 601-5957 and they will coordinate and note it in your plan, but a designation that exists only in the financial plan and not at the custodian is not in effect.
Yes for taxable investment accounts, and it is a custodian transaction. Your planner initiates it with Schwab, Fidelity, or Axos Advisor Services; you sign the custodian's trust account application and a Certification of Trust, provide trustee IDs and the trust tax ID (a revocable trust normally uses your Social Security number), and the positions transfer in kind, so retitling itself does not trigger a capital gain. EFE re-papers its advisory agreement to the trustee and keeps managing. IRAs and workplace plans cannot be retitled to a trust at any custodian -- for those, the trust can only be named as beneficiary, and that has tax consequences worth reviewing first.
No. EFE offers estate planning as part of its planning relationship -- reviewing existing wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations for gaps, modeling estate and income tax consequences, and covering special-needs and charitable giving -- and its planners work with your attorney. EFE and its affiliates do not provide legal or tax advice and do not draft the documents; certain services are provided on an educational and guidance basis only. Plan on a licensed attorney for the instrument itself, and on your planner and the custodian for the account-level titling and beneficiary work that makes the instrument actually control the assets.
Sources
Data sourced from Edelman Financial primary sources (16 pages reviewed). How we research.
E
Edelman Financial Engines (main line)
Phone1-833-752-6333
Toll-Free1-833-752-6333
Existing clients (advisors, weekdays 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. ET)
Employers / workplace plan inquiries (Workingwithus@EdelmanFinancialEngines.com)
WebsiteLearn more→
Estate Planning Services (planner-delivered; EFE does not draft legal documents)
Phone1-800-601-5957
Toll-Free1-800-601-5957
WebsiteLearn more→
No EFE claims department -- notify the planner, then file the claim with the custodian (Schwab, Fidelity, or Axos Advisor Services) or the workplace plan recordkeeper
Phone1-800-601-5957
Toll-Free1-800-601-5957
Charles Schwab Estate Services / Inheritance Center (custodian)
Fidelity inheritance and beneficiary services (custodian)
WebsiteNotify online→
Verified Jul 2026
Estate planning articles
Learn how to protect your Edelman Financial accounts and other assets with trusts, beneficiary designations, and estate planning documents.
