How to designate beneficiaries at Ubiquity

For plans Ubiquity recordkeeps (the business 401(k) plans and Single(k) Plus), beneficiaries are entered in the Ubiquity participant portal.¹

Ubiquity does not retain beneficiary forms for Single(k) plans; it acts as the plan’s document provider without recordkeeping at that level. The designation is made with the custodian, or on Ubiquity’s form stored with the owner’s plan records.²

On a Single(k) plan with accounts at more than one custodian, a beneficiary designation is completed for each account. Each custodian may have its own process and form.²

Ubiquity notes that an employer’s plan can prohibit periodic payouts to a trust beneficiary.³

A trust can be named on a recordkept plan. The portal has no separate trust type: Ubiquity’s help centre says to select the beneficiary type "Estate" and enter your personal information in the remaining fields.¹

Ubiquity states trust beneficiaries "must be named specifically in the trust document, and a copy of this document must be filed with the 401(k) plan administrator," which under its service agreement is the employer.^{3, 4}

Primary and contingent beneficiaries can be added, edited or removed in the Ubiquity portal.¹

Ubiquity states that in a community or marital property state (it names California, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin), naming someone other than your spouse may need written spousal consent, and without it the designation may not be valid.¹

The plan document and Summary Plan Description govern the plan’s own requirements.¹

For employer retirement plans. Completed by the plan owner, who stores it with the 401(k) plan records. Completed online.²

A primary beneficiary is first in line; a contingent beneficiary receives the balance if no primary beneficiary is living.¹

A 401(k) cannot be transferred to a trust. Ubiquity states that when a trust is the named beneficiary, "the trust receives any assets that are distributed from the plan, but the plan itself can’t be transferred to the trust."³