How to Add Beneficiaries to an Estate Plan

You can list anyone you'd like as a beneficiary in your Estate Plan's Distributions section. You can name multiple beneficiaries, and you can also name a backup beneficiary in case your primary beneficiary is unable to inherit.

You're asked to name your beneficiaries in the Distributions section of the initial questionnaire. You can also add or edit them anytime afterward using the steps below.

How to add or edit beneficiaries:

1. Once logged into your account, click Documents from the left-hand menu bar, then select the Summary tab at the top.
2. Scroll to Distributions and click Edit.
3. Click Save & Continue through the questions until you reach the section asking who you'd like to receive your assets.
4. If you're married, choose how much of your estate goes to your spouse — all, none, or a specific percentage.
5. If you added children in the Basics section, you can leave them equal shares of the remaining estate, or enter a custom percentage for each child. To name someone else, such as an individual, charity, or organization, select Other and enter their name.
6. To name more than one beneficiary, click + Add Another Beneficiary.
7. Optional: add conditions to your distribution, such as requiring beneficiaries to reach a minimum age before inheriting, or releasing their inheritance in stages at up to three different ages.
8. Click Save & Continue to save your changes.
9. The next section asks about your backup beneficiary — the person (or people) who would inherit if your primary beneficiary is unable to. Follow steps 5–7 above to name them, then click Save & Continue to save.

Note: At this time, we only support age-based conditions on distributions. We're unable to support custom conditions, such as releasing an inheritance only after a beneficiary graduates college, or restricting funds to a specific use like buying a house.

Blended Families

If you and your spouse have a blended family and want to ensure every child inherits from your estate, select Other instead of "Everything to the surviving spouse" on the first beneficiary question (regardless of whether you'd like everything to go to your spouse first).

To leave everything to your children rather than your spouse:

• Choose Other, then add each child as a beneficiary on the next page.

To leave everything to your spouse first, then to the children next:

• Choose Other, then type in your spouse as your first beneficiary at 100%.
• Click Save & Continue.
• Next, you can list all the children of your blended family as backup beneficiaries, who would inherit if your spouse passes at the same time as or before you.

Leaving Specific Items to Specific People

The beneficiaries you name in the steps above receive a share of "everything else" — meaning anything that isn't already designated as a specific gift to someone or that already has its own beneficiary designation (commonly the case for insurance policies, IRAs, and sometimes bank accounts).

If you'd like to leave a specific item (like a piece of jewelry, a vehicle, or a sum of money) to a specific person, that's done separately in the Gifting portion of the Distributions section. See How to Leave a Gift in Your Will or Trust for details.

You'll still need to name at least one beneficiary to receive "everything else" not designated as a gift, so it may be easiest to set up your "everything else" beneficiaries first using the steps above, then go back through the Distributions section to add any specific gifts afterward.

Need Help?

Please don't hesitate to reach out to our helpful Member Support team for any questions or concerns.