Estate planning at Oppenheimer
How to protect 16 Oppenheimer accounts — manage beneficiaries in-branch, fund a trust in-branch, and file claims through Oppenheimer's Oppenheimer Trust Company of Delaware
Oppenheimer Helpdesk
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., 85 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004
Oppenheimer Trust Company of Delaware
Oppenheimer Trust Company of Delaware, 3411 Silverside Road, Tatnall Building, Suite 105, Wilmington, DE 19810
Oppenheimer Helpdesk (routes to the Financial Professional servicing the account)
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., 85 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004
Oppenheimer has 16 investment accounts, each with different rules for what happens when the account holder dies. Of those, 12 can name a trust as beneficiary or be retitled into a trust. The right combination of beneficiary designations and trust ownership can keep the entire portfolio out of probate.
Beneficiary designations at Oppenheimer can be managed in branch, by mail, and by phone, typically taking same-visit signing with the Financial Professional; the registration appears on the account once processed by the branch.. Trust funding is also available, allowing families to retitle brokerage accounts into a trust.
Oppenheimer has documented procedures for both preparing accounts during your lifetime and handling claims when an account holder passes away.
Preparing your estate
Beneficiaries and trust funding
How to update beneficiaries in-branch, fund a trust in-branch, and review 16 account types at Oppenheimer.
View details →When someone dies
Death claim process
Contact Oppenheimer's Oppenheimer Trust Company of Delaware to file a claim. 6-step process, 7 required documents, and contact information for survivors.
View details →Reach Oppenheimer's Oppenheimer Trust Company of Delaware at (302) 529-2201 for help with any of these procedures.
Frequently asked questions
No. An IRA cannot be retitled into a trust while you are alive — it must stay in your individual name — and the same is true of your Individual 401(k), HSA, Coverdell ESA, and 529. Only your taxable Oppenheimer accounts (individual, joint, advisory, margin) can be retitled into the trust. You can name the trust as the IRA's BENEFICIARY, but read Oppenheimer's own warning first: its IRA Beneficiary Distribution Options guide (Retirement Services) treats a non-qualified trust as a non-person beneficiary, which can compress the entire IRA payout to five years. Naming individuals directly, or a properly drafted qualifying trust, generally preserves better distribution options.
Sources
Data sourced from Oppenheimer primary sources (15 pages reviewed). How we research.
Oppenheimer Helpdesk
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., 85 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004
Oppenheimer Trust Company of Delaware
Oppenheimer Trust Company of Delaware, 3411 Silverside Road, Tatnall Building, Suite 105, Wilmington, DE 19810
Oppenheimer Helpdesk (routes to the Financial Professional servicing the account)
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., 85 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004
Estate planning articles
Learn how to protect your Oppenheimer accounts and other assets with trusts, beneficiary designations, and estate planning documents.
