How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Merrill

Brokerage, CMA, Merrill Edge and Guided Investing accounts take a transfer on death designation on the Transfer on Death Agreement (Retail Accounts).¹

A Loan Management Account, or an account with the Securities Lending Program trait, is not automatically TOD-eligible and needs an advisor eligibility check.¹

Retirement accounts are not TOD-eligible. IRA, IRRA, Roth, SEP, SIMPLE, BASIC, HSA, Archer MSA and MLESA accounts take a beneficiary on the Beneficiary Designation Form.^{1, 2}

A 403(b)(7) account at Merrill Edge takes a beneficiary on the Beneficiary Designation Form.³

Tenants in common and Joint Tenants - Community Property (non-survivorship) accounts are not TOD-eligible.¹

A trust account is not TOD-eligible.¹

UTMA/UGMA custodial accounts are not TOD-eligible.¹

A 529 account is not TOD-eligible. Its beneficiary is changed on the NextGen Direct Series Change of Designated Beneficiary form.^{1, 4}

A trust can be named as a TOD beneficiary only if it already exists when the agreement is signed. All current trustees must be listed.¹

A testamentary trust cannot be named as a TOD beneficiary.¹

A trust may be named as an IRA's beneficiary.²

A minor beneficiary must have a named UTMA custodian or a court-appointed guardian or conservator listed on the form.¹

Percentages must total 100%, and hundredths are allowed.^{1, 2}

The Transfer on Death Agreement allows no contingent or successor beneficiaries and will not be honored if a per stirpes designation is listed.¹

The retirement Beneficiary Designation Form allows contingent beneficiaries and a per stirpes or per capita election, one or the other, not both, within a class.²

No Medallion Signature Guarantee is required on any Merrill beneficiary or TOD form. Notarization is what Merrill requires, and only in specific places.^{1, 2}

A TOD Agreement may not be executed by an agent under a power of attorney. A guardian, conservator or agent under a durable power of attorney can change beneficiaries only by presenting a certified court order authorizing it.¹

Notarized spousal consent is required on the TOD Agreement when the owner has a living spouse who is not an account owner, the owner and spouse reside or have resided during the marriage in Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington or Wisconsin, and the spouse is not the sole beneficiary.¹

Merrill may refuse to accept the agreement, or refuse to transfer the assets after death, if that consent was required and never received. MLPF&S reserves the right to add states if another state adopts a community or marital property system.¹

Spousal consent is not required on an IRA, IRRA, Roth, SEP or SIMPLE beneficiary designation.²

Retirement designations reading "as per will" or "as per trust" are treated as invalid.²

On a BASIC account, a married participant naming someone other than the spouse needs the spouse's signature certified by the plan administrator or a notary. The form's consent block is headed "To be Completed ONLY for BASIC Accounts".²

For investment accounts. Available to download.¹

Return to

For IRAs. Available to download.²

Return to

For IRAs. Available to download.⁵

For IRAs. Available to download.³

Return to

A TOD Agreement supersedes the owner's will and trust for the assets in that account, regardless of which document was signed later.¹

If a TOD beneficiary dies first and the owner did not elect to redistribute that share among the surviving beneficiaries, the share passes to the owner's estate. The same default applies whenever only one beneficiary is named.¹

Spousal consent, once given, can be revoked: the consenting spouse signs a written revocation and delivers it to MLPF&S before the account owner dies, and a new TOD Agreement is then required.¹

Merrill accepts a TOD Agreement by mailing a confirmation letter, and the agreement has no effect if the owner dies before Merrill accepts it. A beneficiary designation is not effective until Merrill receives and accepts it.^{1, 2}

Merrill will not read or monitor the trust. If a trust is designated, it relies solely on the trustee's instructions and takes no responsibility for the trust's terms, and it asks you not to send a copy of the will or trust with a beneficiary form.⁴

Merrill does not offer TOD to residents of Louisiana. It is offered in every other state plus DC, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, except Puerto Rico.¹

Merrill does not offer TOD to residents of Puerto Rico.¹

California notaries must use the California acknowledgment block printed on the form. The notary section must be completely filled out, including seal where required, or the document is returned.¹

An IRA cannot be retitled to a trust. A trust can only be named as its beneficiary.⁴

A trust-titled Merrill account cannot carry a TOD designation. Once an account is retitled, the trust's terms govern and any prior TOD paperwork is moot.¹

Only U.S. residents and U.S.-based trusts can open a Merrill Edge Self-Directed trust account.⁷

The Trustee Certification Form covers the CMA Account for Trusts, the Individual Investor Account for Trusts, the Inherited Retirement Account for Trusts, and a 529 Account with a trust as participant.⁸

For trust accounts. Available to download.⁷

Return to

For trust accounts. Completed by every trustee. Available to download.⁸

For trust accounts. Available to download.⁹

Return to

For trust accounts. Available to download.¹⁰

Return to

Every trustee signs the application and the Trustee Certification Form.⁸

Both retitling letters state that the trust continues to use the tax identification number already on the account.^{9, 10}