Estate planning at Ohio National

AuguStar will process it, but its own forms tell you why you usually should not. The Ownership Change Request (V-4611) warns in its Important block that "this change in ownership may be considered a taxable distribution," and the companion information sheet repeats that certain ownership changes are a taxable event for the current owner. Under IRC 72(u), a deferred annuity held by a non-natural person — which includes most trusts — generally loses its tax deferral. And if the contract carries a Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit rider, V-4611-A states that ownership can move to a trust without violating the Single GLWB rider only if the current owner is the SOLE beneficial owner of the trust; violate it and the joint benefits terminate while the full rider charge keeps being assessed. The Trustee Certification form (V-4603) makes you certify to that sole-beneficial-owner fact. The clean alternative is the one that costs nothing: leave the annuity titled in your name and name the trust as BENEFICIARY on form V-4614. That keeps the deferral, keeps the rider, and still routes the money to the trust outside probate. A life insurance policy is the opposite case — that one genuinely belongs in an irrevocable life insurance trust.