Estate planning at Firstrade
How to protect 11 Firstrade accounts — manage beneficiaries online, fund a trust by mail, and file death claims
Firstrade Securities Inc., 30-50 Whitestone Expressway, Suite A301, Flushing, NY 11354
Firstrade Securities Inc., 30-50 Whitestone Expressway, Suite A301, Flushing, NY 11354
Death Claims / Estate Services
Firstrade Securities Inc., 30-50 Whitestone Expressway, Suite A301, Flushing, NY 11354
Firstrade offers 11 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.
Managing beneficiaries at Firstrade is straightforward—changes can be made online and by mail, typically taking 15-20 minutes to complete form, processing time varies. Trust funding is also available, allowing families to retitle brokerage accounts into a trust.
There are two sides to estate planning at Firstrade: 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 by mail, and review 11 account types at Firstrade.
View details →When someone dies
Death claim process
5-step process, 7 required documents, and contact information for survivors.
View details →Frequently asked questions
IRA beneficiaries are managed separately from TOD beneficiaries on brokerage accounts. For IRAs you can update beneficiaries online by logging in at firstrade.com and going to Accounts, then Profile, then the Beneficiaries tab. Alternatively, download the IRA Beneficiary Designation Form from the Form Center at firstrade.com/support/forms, complete it with updated beneficiary information, and submit via Secure Document Upload. The new form replaces all previous designations on file.
Yes. Firstrade accepts revocable and irrevocable trust accounts. To open one, download the Trust Form from the Form Center at firstrade.com/support/forms, provide a copy of the trust agreement, the trust EIN, and valid government-issued ID for all trustees, and submit via Secure Document Upload or by mail. Once the trust account is open, existing Firstrade assets can be re-registered into the trust account, or assets at another broker can be moved in via ACATS transfer. Firstrade does not accept corporate, partnership, or LLC accounts, so business assets cannot be retitled here.
Sources
Data sourced from Firstrade primary sources (15 pages reviewed). How we research.
Firstrade Securities Inc., 30-50 Whitestone Expressway, Suite A301, Flushing, NY 11354
Firstrade Securities Inc., 30-50 Whitestone Expressway, Suite A301, Flushing, NY 11354
Death Claims / Estate Services
Firstrade Securities Inc., 30-50 Whitestone Expressway, Suite A301, Flushing, NY 11354
Estate planning articles
Learn how to protect your Firstrade accounts and other assets with trusts, beneficiary designations, and estate planning documents.
