How to name beneficiaries and fund a trust at Prudential
Covers 22 insurance accounts — beneficiaries can be managed online
Individual Life Insurance Claims Center / Beneficiary Services
Beneficiary designations are the foundation of estate planning for Prudential 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.
Across 22 product types, Prudential policies vary in how they transfer at death. The sections below walk through beneficiary designations, trust funding options, and which products support each method.
- Provide each beneficiary's full legal name, date of birth, Social Security number, and relationship
- Assign percentage allocations to the primary beneficiaries (must total 100%)
- Add contingent beneficiaries with their own allocations
- To name a trust, enter the full legal trust name, the date it was established, and the trust EIN
Required Documents
- Trust name, date established, and tax ID (EIN or SSN)
Special Requirements
- Prudential publishes individual-policy service forms only inside the logged-in Forms Library (life) and Document center > Account forms (annuities); there is no public PDF to download
- A trust can be named as beneficiary on life insurance and annuities; a testamentary trust can also be named
- Primary and contingent beneficiaries are supported, with percentage allocations totaling 100%
- Group (employer-sponsored) coverage: the employer owns the master contract, so the certificate cannot be assigned to an ILIT. The beneficiary designation is the only estate lever, and it is often maintained through the employer's benefits portal rather than by Prudential
- SGLI/VGLI beneficiary designations are filed through the service branch or the VA, not through Prudential's commercial lines, even though Prudential's OSGLI division pays the claim
- Beneficiary designations control over the instructions in a will
Sources
Data sourced from Prudential primary sources (17 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these Prudential instructions
Download instructions for the whole estateA printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details — verified against Prudential primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
Individual Life Insurance Claims Center / Beneficiary Services
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