How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Horace Mann

Covers 11 insurance, and 6 retirement accounts — beneficiaries can be managed online

Horace Mann

Subsidiary of Horace Mann Educators Corporation

horacemann.com
Horace Mann logo

Horace Mann Customer Service

Mailing Address

The Horace Mann Companies, 1 Horace Mann Plaza, Springfield, IL 62715. Annuity correspondence and contributions: Horace Mann Life Insurance Company, P.O. Box 4657, Springfield, IL 62708-4657.

Beneficiary updates (life and annuity)
Retirement Advantage (current clients, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. ET M-F)
Supplemental Life service

Horace Mann Customer Service

Mailing Address

The Horace Mann Companies, 1 Horace Mann Plaza, Springfield, IL 62715. Annuity correspondence and contributions: Horace Mann Life Insurance Company, P.O. Box 4657, Springfield, IL 62708-4657.

Beneficiary updates (life and annuity)
Retirement Advantage (current clients, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. ET M-F)
Supplemental Life service

Horace Mann Claims — life insurance and annuity death claims (one intake for both)

Mailing Address

Return the mailed claim packet to the address printed on it, or to the regional office handling the claim. Annuity correspondence: Horace Mann Life Insurance Company, P.O. Box 4657, Springfield, IL 62708-4657. Supplemental policies (National Teachers Associates): P.O. Box 650855, Dallas, TX 75265-0855. Group benefits (Madison National Life): P.O. Box 2865, Clinton, IA 52733.

Retirement Advantage accounts (8 a.m.-5 p.m. ET M-F)
Waiver of premium / disability claims (not death claims)
Supplemental policies (National Teachers Associates)
Verified Jul 2026

For Horace Mann policyholders, estate planning comes down to one critical step: making sure the right beneficiaries are named on every policy. Insurance proceeds bypass probate entirely and go directly to whoever is listed—regardless of what a will says. When estate tax planning or controlled distributions are a factor, a trust can be named as beneficiary instead.

Across 17 product types, Horace Mann policies vary in how they transfer at death. The sections below walk through beneficiary designations, trust funding options, and which products support each method.

Personal Retirement Planner Variable AnnuityPersonal Retirement Planner Fixed Indexed Annuity IIMY Guaranteed Solution IIPRP Single Premium Immediate AnnuityPRP Single Premium Deferred Fixed AnnuityHorace Mann Retirement Advantage
1
Horace Mann runs two different beneficiary paths, and which one you use depends on the product. RETIREMENT ADVANTAGE accounts (403(b), 457(b), 401(a), IRA) can be changed entirely online. LIFE INSURANCE and traditional ANNUITY contracts cannot: the form is downloaded from the portal and returned on paper.
2
Retirement Advantage — fully online, no paperwork (log in at https://customer.horacemann.com/MyAccount/Login/Login):
  • Click the account you want to update
  • Click "Take Action" within that account
  • Select "Beneficiary" and enter the change directly online
  • A separate designation applies to each account, so repeat for every Retirement Advantage account you hold
3
Life insurance and traditional annuity contracts — download the paper form from the same portal:
  • Click "Documents" from the home screen
  • Select "Insurance Forms", then "Life Forms"
  • Scroll to "Beneficiary Change Form" — the Life, Annuity and Group insurance beneficiary change request form (Form IA-009971)
  • List primary and contingent beneficiaries with names, relationships, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and benefit percentages; to name a trust, enter the trust as the beneficiary with its full legal name and date, and use the attached-listing option if you run out of space
4
Sign and date the form and mail it to Horace Mann Life Insurance Company, 1 Horace Mann Plaza, Springfield, IL 62715-0001, the return address printed on the form itself. Horace Mann states the change takes effect as of the date the request was signed, subject to any payment already made or action already taken before it was received.
5
The Retirement Advantage mail-in alternative is the Retirement Advantage Designation of Beneficiary Form, RA-000009 (https://www.horacemann.com/-/media/Project/Horace-Mann/Public-Site/files/Retirement-resources-and-microsite-files/RA-000009-Retirement-Advantage-Designation-of-Beneficiary-Form.pdf). Horace Mann prints on the form itself that you should use horacemann.com/myaccount for immediate processing, or if you are naming more than three primary or three contingent beneficiaries.

Required Documents

  • Trust name, date established, and tax ID (EIN or SSN)

Special Requirements

  • The policy owner signs; both owners must sign a jointly owned policy; an irrevocable beneficiary must also sign any change
  • Community/marital property states (AZ, CA, ID, LA, NV, NM, TX, WA, WI): the owner's spouse must also sign the life/annuity beneficiary change form
  • Percentage allocations must total 100% within each beneficiary tier
  • A separate Retirement Advantage form (or online change) is required for each account; each new designation revokes all prior designations on that account
  • The current RA-000009 (08-24) is a single page with no spousal-consent section; an earlier revision required notarized spousal consent for ERISA-governed plans and community-property-state residents. Confirm with the plan administrator or Horace Mann (800-677-2363) whether spousal consent applies to your employer plan
  • Trusts can be named directly: RA-000009 takes the trust name with its EIN and trust date
  • Minor children cannot receive benefits directly; name a custodian or a trust
  • Beneficiary designations on life insurance, annuities, and 403(b)/457(b) accounts override a will
SimplyTrustSimplyTrust Editorial·

Sources

Data sourced from Horace Mann primary sources (15 pages reviewed). How we research.

Download these Horace Mann instructions

Download instructions for the whole estate

A printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details — verified against Horace Mann primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.

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