How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Protective
Covers 11 insurance accounts — beneficiaries can be managed online
Protective Life Insurance Company, Life and Health Insurance Administration, P.O. Box 12687, Birmingham, AL 35202-6687
Protective Life Insurance Company, Life and Health Insurance Administration, P.O. Box 12687, Birmingham, AL 35202-6687
Life Insurance Claims
Protective Life Insurance Company, Claims, P.O. Box 12486, Birmingham, AL 35202
Estate planning with Protective policies centers on beneficiary designations—the single most important step for ensuring life insurance proceeds and annuity benefits reach the intended recipients without probate involvement. Unlike bank or brokerage accounts, insurance products are not retitled into trusts; instead, trusts are named as beneficiaries when estate tax planning or controlled distributions are needed.
Protective has 11 product types, and the estate transfer rules differ across them. Some support beneficiary designations, some can be retitled into a trust, and others will require probate if nothing is set up. Each is covered below.
- Add or update primary beneficiaries with full legal names, dates of birth, relationships, and percentage allocations totaling 100%
- Add or update contingent beneficiaries if desired
- For trusts: provide the full legal trust name, date established, and trust EIN
Required Documents
- Trust name, date established, and tax ID (EIN or SSN)
Special Requirements
- Trusts can be named as beneficiaries on life insurance policies and annuity contracts. Form SVC-102-PL has a dedicated "Trust Date, If Applicable" column next to each beneficiary line -- enter the trust date there, not in the name field
- Form SVC-102-PL cancels ALL previous beneficiary designations and settlement directions, so re-list every beneficiary you want to keep, not just the one you are changing
- Primary and contingent beneficiaries allowed with percentage allocations. If no percentages are entered, Protective pays in equal shares to the surviving beneficiaries at that level
- If no primary or contingent beneficiary survives the insured, proceeds are paid to the executors, administrators, or assigns of the OWNER -- which routes the death benefit into probate. Naming a contingent beneficiary or a trust avoids this default
- Form SVC-102-PL offers an optional common-disaster clause (maximum 30 days): if a beneficiary dies simultaneously with the insured or is not living on the elected day after death, proceeds pass as if that beneficiary had not survived
- The owner's signature on SVC-102-PL and SVC-119-PL must be witnessed by a disinterested party of legal age
- If the policy is collaterally assigned, the assignee must also sign the form or submit a release of assignment
- In community property states, Protective recommends the owner's spouse join in signing
- If the policy is already trust-owned, all applicable trustees must sign, and you must send the Certificate of Trust (or the trust pages naming the trust, the trustees/successor trustees, trustee rights, any life-insurance provisions, and the signature page)
- If signing under a power of attorney, guardianship, or conservatorship, send ALL pages of that document; the agent signs their own name with their title after the signature
- Beneficiary designations override instructions in a will
- Protective warns that naming a MINOR directly may force the death benefit to wait for a court-appointed guardian of the minor's estate; a trust or a UTMA custodian designation avoids the delay
- MyAccount features vary by policy type; some policies must be changed on paper
- For annuity contracts, use Form RET-2403 (Beneficiary Change Annuity Service Form) instead of SVC-102-PL
- Legacy MONY Life Insurance Company and MONY Life Insurance Company of America policies use their own Form 10481 (Change of Beneficiary and/or Rightsholder), not SVC-102-PL
Sources
Data sourced from Protective primary sources (28 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these Protective instructions
Download instructions for the whole estateA printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details — verified against Protective primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
Protective Life Insurance Company, Life and Health Insurance Administration, P.O. Box 12687, Birmingham, AL 35202-6687
Protective Life Insurance Company, Life and Health Insurance Administration, P.O. Box 12687, Birmingham, AL 35202-6687
Life Insurance Claims
Protective Life Insurance Company, Claims, P.O. Box 12486, Birmingham, AL 35202
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