How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at GM Financial

An auto loan is a debt, not an asset, so there is nothing to designate a beneficiary on. No payable-on-death, transfer-on-death or beneficiary designation is offered on any GM Financial product.¹

An auto lease is a debt, not an asset, so there is nothing to designate a beneficiary on.¹

Right Notes carry no payable-on-death designation. The Right Notes Terms state: "Unless we permit you to name a beneficiary for your investment and you elect to do so, your investment will likely be considered a part of your estate and transfer in accordance with the probate laws of your state."²

A Right Notes joint registration has up to three individuals as joint owners with rights of survivorship, so a deceased owner's interest passes to the surviving owners.²

On Term Notes, joint tenancy, tenancy by the entirety, or tenancy in common with a spouse puts the whole principal amount in reach of the Survivor's Option, while tenancy in common with anyone else reaches only the deceased's percentage interest.³

Term Notes carry no beneficiary designation. Their death feature is the Survivor's Option, a repayment right exercised by the estate's representative after death, not a designation made during life.³

Joint and trust registration on Right Notes must be set up at enrollment; an existing individual investment cannot be retitled ("Rights Not Transferable").²

A financed vehicle cannot be retitled into a trust while GM Financial holds the lien. GM Financial states that only individuals on the retail installment contract can be added to the title.⁴

GM Financial will not send the title or lien release if ownership has been transferred to another party or a second lienholder is disclosed on the title.⁴

A leased vehicle cannot be retitled into a trust while GM Financial owns the vehicle, and has no trust-funding path until the lease is bought out.⁴

A Right Notes investment can be owned by a trust only as a Trust investment registered from the outset. The Terms describe it: "The trustee of a legal trust manages the investment of trust funds in Right Notes for the benefit of the trust's beneficiaries."²

An existing individual Right Notes investment cannot be moved into a trust; the trust must apply as a new investor. Trust registration cannot be added to an existing individual investment.²

Term Notes are held in book-entry form through a broker, so a trust funds them by having the trust's brokerage account buy the notes. GM Financial itself does not register the ownership.³

Available to download.⁵

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Under "Rights Not Transferable," except for a joint investment "your rights to your investment cannot be transferred or pledged to anyone else, and no one else may take any type of interest in your investment. Any attempt to do so will be null and void."²

The certification names the trustees authorized to purchase, sell and redeem the Notes and to receive the proceeds. It stays in force until a new executed form is received by the processing agent.⁵