What to do when a Global Atlantic account holder dies

Yes. Even though Global Atlantic suspended new IUL sales in July 2023, existing policyholders can still transfer ownership to an ILIT. The trustee of the ILIT must be the actual owner shown on the contract -- naming the trust only as beneficiary is not enough to remove the death benefit from your taxable estate. Use the Ownership Change Request for Life Policies (Form 15028), and back it with the Trust Verification form (Form 16541), which certifies the trust name, trustees, and trust and amendment dates. Form 15028 mails to Accordia Life and Annuity Company, PO Box 305027, Nashville, TN 37230-5027 (fax 800-351-0603); Form 16541 goes to a different box -- P.O. Box 305030, Nashville, TN 37230-5030 (fax 800-262-6976). Questions: 877-462-8992. Note the form's own warning that an ownership change may be a taxable event to the current owner. And if an existing policy is transferred to an ILIT, a three-year lookback applies under IRC 2035 -- if the insured dies within three years of the transfer, the death benefit is pulled back into the taxable estate. Global Atlantic does not establish ILITs; work with an estate attorney.

It depends on which company issued the contract. LIFE INSURANCE: download the Life Insurance Claim Form - Statement of Beneficiary (form 17003 for Accordia Life, or form 17003(FANY) for First Allmerica) and mail or fax it to P.O. Box 637, Jacksonville, IL 62651-0637 -- fax 800-255-0835 for Accordia, 866-543-4026 for First Allmerica. Questions: the Customer Contact Center at 877-462-8992. ANNUITIES: there is no published annuity death-claim PDF, so call the Annuity Service Center at 866-645-2449 to have the packet issued; Commonwealth Annuity contracts (prefixes 408/409/509) go to 800-457-8803. PRENEED: the funeral home normally files it, or mail to Forethought Life Insurance Company, P.O. Box 216, Batesville, IN 47006, fax 888-425-2463, questions 800-959-6886. Do NOT mail claims to the Jersey City, NJ address that appears in Global Atlantic material -- that is the new-business and distributor address, not a claims address. The life claim form requires an ORIGINAL CERTIFIED death certificate showing cause and manner of death, plus the policy number and the decedent's date of birth, date of death, and SSN.

The Life Insurance Claim Form - Statement of Beneficiary has a Trust Verification section that the trustees sign under penalty of perjury. It asks for the full trust name, the trust's address and phone, the original and any amended trust dates, the state law governing the trust, the state(s) in which taxes will be reported, every trustee's name, whether each trustee may act solely and independently or only together with co-trustees (if jointly, EVERY trustee must sign), and the TIN used for tax reporting -- which must be the trust's number, not the trustee's. The trustees also certify that they have authority, under the trust agreement or state law, to accept the death proceeds and release the company. Two traps worth knowing: a power of attorney or guardian for the policy OWNER is expressly not authorized to act on behalf of a trustee, and the Distribution of Funds section requires you to name every individual or entity who will receive 25% or more of what the trust distributes from the policy. The form also tells trustees who have questions about values or payout options to complete and return the trust sections BEFORE calling, since that is what allows the company to verify the trustee over the phone.