How to Update Your Beneficiaries
on Your LPL Accounts

Did you know you can update the beneficiary on your accounts directly in Account View with LPL Financial? Updating your beneficiaries on your investment accounts is crucial for several reasons.

  • It ensures that your assets are distributed according to your wishes after passing. If your beneficiaries are not updated, your assets may be distributed according to the default laws in your state, which may not align with your desires.
  • Updating your beneficiaries can help to avoid legal battles and family disputes. Without clear beneficiary designations, your loved ones may end up in a complicated and time-consuming legal process to claim your assets.
  • Updating your beneficiaries can help you to minimize taxes and fees. When you name beneficiaries, your assets can be passed directly to them without going through probate, which can be costly and lengthy. Additionally, naming beneficiaries can help minimize estate and income taxes, saving your heirs a substantial amount of money.

Keeping your beneficiaries updated on your financial accounts is a simple yet vital step in ensuring that your assets are distributed according to your wishes, avoiding legal battles, and minimizing taxes and fees. You should review and update your beneficiaries regularly, especially after significant life events such as marriage, divorce, or birth/adoption of a child.

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To change your beneficiaries on your LPL Financial Accounts:

1) Sign in to Account View. If you do not have an Account View account, please contact Teresa at teresa@scarletoakfs.com or call her at 800-871-1219 Ext 2.
2) At the top right of your profile is a clog where your account settings can be changed. Click on the clog, then click on My Information.
3) In the middle of the page is a box with Beneficiaries; click View Beneficiaries in a blue box.
4) You should see a list of your accounts with a pen with Update to the right of it. Click on Update for the account you are making the changes to.
5) The Update Beneficiaries screen will display current primary beneficiary designations, as well as any contingent beneficiaries.
  • At the right side of each beneficiary’s name are three dots; click on the dots to delete or edit that beneficiary.
  • To add a beneficiary, click below the last beneficiary listed on the + Add Primary Beneficiary or for contingent beneficiaries + Add Contingent Beneficiary.
  • To change the allocation percentage for a beneficiary, change the number to the right side of the beneficiary’s name. It will not let you move to the next screen until your allocation percentage equals 100% total for all beneficiaries.
6) Once that is done, click next. Select Acknowledge & Submit to confirm and submit the beneficiary updates.
7) If you are changing multiple accounts, you can set up one account with the changes needed and then select the other accounts’ Update buttons. At the top of the screen for each account is a button that says, “Copy Beneficiaries From,” with two carrots to the right of the text. Click on that and choose the account that beneficiaries should be copied from.

When you make beneficiary changes in Account View, Scarlet Oak Financial Services will receive a notification with details of the changes. These beneficiary changes are effective immediately. If you need additional help or need to change your beneficiaries on an account not held at LPL Financial, please contact Melinda at melinda@scarletoakfs.com or 800–871–1219 Ext 1. Click here to sign up for our weekly newsletter with the latest economic news.