How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Mutual of America
Covers 7 retirement, and 1 insurance accounts — beneficiaries can be managed online
Participant Services
Mutual of America Life Insurance Company, 320 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022-6839
Participant Services (beneficiary designations and forms)
Mutual of America Financial Group, P.O. Box 20011, New York, NY 10011 (address printed on Forms 6463 and 6475)
Life Claims
Mutual of America Life Insurance Company, 320 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022-6839
Beneficiary designations are the foundation of estate planning for Mutual of America policies. Unlike bank accounts, insurance products cannot be retitled into a trust. Instead, the beneficiary designation itself determines who receives the proceeds and how quickly they're paid. Naming a trust as beneficiary is an option when more control over distributions is needed.
Mutual of America has 8 policies with different estate transfer rules. Here is how beneficiary designations, trust ownership, and probate apply to each one.
- Naming people or an estate: Beneficiary Designation Form 6463 — https://www.mutualofamerica.com/globalassets/pdfs/form-6463---ga-beneficiary-designation-form.pdf. A single Form 6463 cannot cover multiple plans; submit one form per plan
- Naming a trust (or making an irrevocable designation): Form 6463 tells you to call 800-468-3785 instead, and the trust is designated on Designation of Trust as Beneficiary Form 6475 — https://www.mutualofamerica.com/globalassets/pdfs/6475-ww-ga.pdf
Required Documents
- Trust name, date established, and tax ID (EIN or SSN)
Special Requirements
- There is no online beneficiary designation. My Account shows the designations on file and links to the form; the form is completed on paper and mailed to Mutual of America Financial Group, P.O. Box 20011, New York, NY 10011
- A trust must be designated on Form 6475. Form 6463 (the ordinary beneficiary form) refuses trust designations and irrevocable designations outright and sends you to 800-468-3785
- Form 6475 warns that when the beneficiary is a trust, federal tax rules generally require the death benefit to be paid in full within FIVE years of death, and that a trust beneficiary may therefore lose payment schedules an individual could have used (including a surviving spouse's right to defer). Mutual of America states it is not bound by the terms of a trust to accelerate or commute payments
- A trust designation is contingent: it is valid only if Mutual of America can begin paying the trust within one year of receiving notice of your death. If it cannot (no trust exists, the nominated trustee is unwilling or unable to serve, or payment cannot be made for any reason), the designation is void and benefits are paid as though the trust did not survive you
- ERISA spousal consent: a married participant in a covered plan must name the Eligible Spouse as the only primary beneficiary unless the spouse signs the Spouse's Waiver, witnessed by a notary public or an authorized representative of the employer. A new waiver is needed every time the primary beneficiary changes
- Age-35 trap: if the participant is younger than 35 when alternative beneficiaries are named with spousal consent, the designation terminates automatically at age 35 and the Eligible Spouse becomes the beneficiary again unless the participant re-designates with a fresh signed waiver
- Marriage voids an unmarried participant's designation: Form 6475 and Form 6463 both state that if an unmarried participant later marries, the retirement-plan beneficiary designation is automatically voided and the Eligible Spouse is deemed the primary beneficiary. A new form must be filed after a wedding
- Naming beneficiaries by name does not create a category — adding a later-born child requires a new form. Without stated percentages the benefit is split equally among the surviving primary beneficiaries
- Address conflict: the mutualofamerica.com FAQ directs Form 6475 to the Withdrawal Processing Center, 1001 Yamato Road, Boca Raton, FL 33431, while the form itself prints P.O. Box 20011, New York, NY 10011. Use the address printed on the form you are mailing and call 800-468-3785 to confirm
Sources
Data sourced from Mutual of America primary sources (14 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these Mutual of America instructions
Download instructions for the whole estateA printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details — verified against Mutual of America primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
Participant Services
Mutual of America Life Insurance Company, 320 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022-6839
Participant Services (beneficiary designations and forms)
Mutual of America Financial Group, P.O. Box 20011, New York, NY 10011 (address printed on Forms 6463 and 6475)
Life Claims
Mutual of America Life Insurance Company, 320 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022-6839
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