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How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Moneta

Beneficiaries are managed online, in branch, by phone or by mail. Trust paperwork is taken in branch, by phone or by mail

Preparing your Moneta investment accounts for estate transfer involves two primary strategies: designating beneficiaries on individual accounts and, where supported, retitling accounts into a revocable living trust. Both approaches bypass probate, but they work differently depending on the account type.

The transfer rules at Moneta vary across 9 investment accounts. Below is a breakdown of beneficiary options, trust funding, and which products support each method.

Beneficiary form at Moneta

The custodian's TOD or beneficiary form.

Comprehensive Financial Management (Family CFO)Managed Taxable AccountMoneta Trust Corporate Trustee AccountHeld-Away Asset ServicesBill Pay, Bookkeeping and Concierge Services
1
Contact your Moneta team (the St. Louis headquarters line is (314) 726-2300, or use monetagroup.com/contact) and say you want to review beneficiary designations across the accounts they manage
2
Find where each designation is held:
  • Taxable and retirement accounts managed by Moneta are held at a qualified custodian; TOD and beneficiary designations are made on whichever custodian holds the account
  • The brochure names Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. and Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC as the custodians Moneta recommends
  • Form ADV Part 1 Schedule D 5.K.(3) also reports Commerce Bank, N.A. (Commerce Trust Company) holding more than ten percent of Moneta separately managed account assets
  • Confirm which custodian holds the specific account before requesting a form
  • Held-away assets (an outside annuity, an old brokerage account, an employer plan, a Flourish cash-management account) keep their designations at the institution that holds them
  • Employer plan designations belong to the plan recordkeeper
3
Complete the custodian's TOD or beneficiary form for each account, with primary and contingent beneficiaries and percentage allocations. Your Moneta team coordinates the paperwork with the custodian; Moneta itself does not hold the designation
4
To name a trust, give the custodian the exact trust name, the date of the trust, the trustee(s), and the trust taxpayer ID; a certification of trust is normally what the custodian wants
5
Sign and store the paperwork through the Moneta Central client portal where your team uses it (monetagroup.com/client-portal); the page links an Orion Portal for clients who have not set up Moneta Central
6
Check that the designation landed on the custodian's own statement or portal, not only the Moneta performance report. Moneta relies on custodian data feeds, and Item 15 of its brochure tells clients to compare custodian statements against anything Moneta sends

Required Documents

  • The custodian's TOD or beneficiary form, completed (for each account)
  • Exact trust name, the date of the trust, the trustees and the trust taxpayer ID (when naming a trust)
  • Certification of trust (when naming a trust). Normally what the custodian wants

What Moneta says about beneficiaries and trusts

Each section is Moneta's own statement, with the document it comes from numbered under Sources.

Which accounts take a beneficiary4

Investment account

A taxable account managed by Moneta is held at a qualified custodian, and its TOD designation is made on whichever custodian holds the account.1

IRA

A retirement account managed by Moneta is held at a qualified custodian, and its beneficiary designation is made on whichever custodian holds the account.1

Employer retirement plan

An employer plan's beneficiary designation is held by the plan recordkeeper.2

Trust account

Assets held with Moneta Trust as corporate trustee sit in segregated trust accounts at a third-party custodian in the name of Moneta Trust as trustee, so there is no separate beneficiary form; the trust instrument controls.3

Who can be named1

A trust

A trust can be named as beneficiary on the custodian's form.2

A trust, IRAs

A trust can be named as beneficiary of an IRA on the custodian's form.2

A trust, employer retirement plans

A trust can be named as beneficiary of an employer plan on the recordkeeper's form.2

How many beneficiaries, and how shares are split

All accounts

The custodian's form names primary and contingent beneficiaries with percentage allocations.2

Beneficiary forms Moneta issues1

The custodian's TOD or beneficiary form

Completed by the account owner, with the Moneta team. Sent by the institution on request.2

What Moneta's agreement says about beneficiaries1

A designation and a will

A named beneficiary or TOD designation overrides the will and the trust for that account.2

Which accounts a trust can hold2

IRA

An IRA cannot be retitled to a trust.2

Employer retirement plan

An employer plan cannot be retitled to a trust.2

What Moneta says about trust accounts2

Whether a new account is opened

Moneta does not hold client assets, so it cannot retitle anything by itself: the trust-titled account is opened at the qualified custodian, and Moneta prepares the paperwork and keeps managing the portfolio afterward.2

A trust funded through Moneta involves two relationships: the custodian holds the assets and issues the statements, and Moneta manages them under an advisory agreement re-papered in the trust's name.2

Fees

Where Moneta Trust serves as trustee, fees paid to Moneta Trust are separate from and in addition to the fees charged by Moneta.1

Accounts handled elsewhere4

Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.

Custody of Moneta-managed accounts, with their TOD, beneficiary and trust account paperwork1, 4

Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC

Custody of Moneta-managed accounts, with their TOD, beneficiary and trust account paperwork1

Commerce Bank, N.A. (Commerce Trust Company)

Custody of Moneta separately managed accounts, with their TOD, beneficiary and trust account paperwork4

Moneta Trust

Corporate trustee for personal trusts, certain retirement plan accounts, life insurance trusts and charitable trusts3, 5, 1

Sources5

SimplyTrustSimplyTrust Editorial·

Sources

Show 4 more sources

Data sourced from Moneta primary sources (20 pages reviewed). How we research.

Download these Moneta instructions

Download instructions for the whole estate

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

Moneta estate support

Moneta Trust (corporate trustee)

Hours

Monday-Friday 8:00 AM-5:00 PM CT

Mailing address

Moneta Group Investment Advisors, LLC, 190 Carondelet Plaza, Suite 1200, St. Louis, MO 63105
Verified Sep 2026

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