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Prepare the letter of instruction Vanguard requests during estate or death-claim processing — addressed to its verified claims department with the required enclosures. PDF.
Step 1 of 2
The Vanguard retirement account owner who died. If the owner had multiple retirement plans with different beneficiary designations, complete a separate form for each designation.
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Send it to Vanguard's estate/claims department: Vanguard, P.O. Box 982901, El Paso, TX 79998-2901. You can reach the department at 1-877-662-7447.
Vanguard lists these among its required documents: Death certificate (if Vanguard cannot verify the death independently); Government-issued ID for beneficiary or executor; Transfer Due to Death of Account Owner form (Form S737); Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, certified within 60 days (if probate required). The prepared letter includes an enclosure checklist drawn from Vanguard's recorded requirements.
Varies by account type and documentation; most transfers complete within a few weeks after all documents received
Vanguard provides its own letter-of-instruction form. We complete that official form with your information; you print, sign, and send it.
It depends on the capacity you are acting in. An executor or administrator encloses Letters Testamentary (when there is a will) or Letters of Administration (when there is not); a successor trustee encloses a certificate of trust; a successor under a small estate encloses that state’s small estate affidavit. The prepared letter lists the proof-of-authority document for your role alongside the institution’s required documents.
A letter of instruction is the written request an institution asks for when settling a deceased customer’s account. It identifies the decedent and the account, states the capacity you are acting in, and tells the institution what to do with the account.
