How to Fill Out and Submit the Transamerica Beneficiary Change Form

The Transamerica beneficiary change form updates who receives your life insurance proceeds or annuity contract value. You fill in your policy number, list each new beneficiary with their personal details and percentage share, sign the form, and send it to Transamerica’s processing center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. One thing to confirm first: Transamerica issues different versions for life insurance and for annuities, so download the one that matches your product.

Where to Get the Right Form

The quickest route is logging into MyTransamerica at myta.transamerica.com, where the service forms available are tied to your specific policy or contract.¹ You can also submit requests and upload documents through the online portal for life insurance policies.² If you would rather not use the portal, call 800-523-7900 (weekdays, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET) and ask for a blank form by mail or email.³

What to Gather Before You Start

Have everything in front of you before opening the PDF. Half-completed forms get sent back.

For each individual beneficiary, you will need:

Full legal name, spelled as it appears on government ID
Mailing address with city, state, and ZIP
Relationship to you (spouse, child, sibling, friend)
Social Security number or Tax ID, and date of birth — the annuity form requires these, while some life insurance versions ask only for name, address, and relationship
Phone number, requested on many versions

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For a trust, charity, or corporation, you will need the entity’s full legal name, EIN, address, phone number, and a description of its relationship to you (such as “Charity” or “Corporation”). A trust also needs its date of creation.⁶

Filling In the Policy and Beneficiary Sections

Write your policy number and the insured person’s name at the top. The field is labeled “Policy Number,” not “account number.” Use the number printed on your policy documents or shown on your online dashboard.⁵

Below that, the form splits into two sections: primary beneficiaries and contingent beneficiaries. A primary beneficiary is first in line to receive the proceeds. A contingent beneficiary receives the benefit only if every primary beneficiary has died by the time of the claim. Enter each person or entity in the correct section and assign a whole-number percentage to each entry. Do not list dollar amounts. Primary beneficiaries must total exactly 100 percent, and if you name contingents, that group must independently total 100 percent as well. If the math does not add up, Transamerica treats the change as incomplete and holds it until you fix the error.⁴⁵

Per Stirpes Notations

You can add a “per stirpes” notation next to any beneficiary. Per stirpes means that if that beneficiary dies before you, their share passes to their children rather than being redistributed among your surviving beneficiaries. The form’s instructions give this example: “John Doe 50%, per stirpes and Jane Doe 50%, per stirpes.” Without the notation, Transamerica generally redistributes a deceased beneficiary’s share among the remaining living beneficiaries in that class. Transamerica recommends consulting an attorney before using per stirpes designations.⁶

Naming a Trust, Minor, Charity, or Business

Trusts

List the trust’s complete legal name and date of creation in the beneficiary section, and enter the trust’s EIN in the SSN/Tax ID field. A Trustee Certification Form must either be on file or enclosed. If a corporate trustee manages the trust, include a copy of the Corporate Resolution. Once proceeds are paid to a trustee, Transamerica has no responsibility for how the trustee distributes the funds.⁶

Minors

You can name a minor child, but Transamerica will not pay proceeds directly to someone under the age of majority. Payment goes to the child’s legally appointed guardian or conservator unless state law provides another mechanism.⁶ If no guardian has been appointed, a court may name one, which delays access to the money. An alternative is naming a trust and setting out in the trust document how and when the child receives funds.⁷

Charities and Businesses

The structure matches an individual: full legal name, address, phone number, relationship description, and EIN. For a business-owned policy, an Entity Certification Form or Corporate Resolution must be on file or submitted with the change form.⁶

Spousal Consent for Retirement Accounts

If the account you are changing is a Transamerica retirement account governed by ERISA, such as a 401(k) or pension, federal law generally requires your spouse to be the primary beneficiary. Naming anyone else requires written spousal consent, witnessed by a plan representative or a notary public, specifically acknowledging what your spouse is giving up.⁸

This federal rule does not apply to individual life insurance policies or traditional IRAs. But if you live in a community property state (Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, or Wisconsin), your spouse may still have a legal interest in assets accumulated during the marriage. Talk to an attorney in those states before finalizing a change that leaves a spouse out.

Signatures

Every owner on the policy must sign and date the form. Co-owners all sign.⁶

Two situations add extra signature lines. If a prior beneficiary was designated as irrevocable, that person must also sign the new form, and will have to sign any future change as well. If the policy is a Massachusetts policy, your signature must be witnessed by someone over 18 who is not related to you and is not named as a beneficiary on the form.⁶

The beneficiary change form itself does not need to be notarized. A spousal consent waiver for an ERISA retirement account has its own witness or notary requirement, separate from this form.⁸

How to Submit the Form

Transamerica accepts the completed form three ways.

Online upload through your MyTransamerica account, after scanning or photographing the signed form. This is the fastest option and gives you an immediate digital record.²
Fax. The life insurance form lists 1-800-235-4782. Annuity forms use (877) 355-4385. Check the bottom of your specific form to confirm.⁶⁴
Mail. For life insurance: Transamerica Life Insurance Company, Attn: Policy Services, 6400 C Street SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52499. For annuities: 4333 Edgewood Rd. NE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52499. Use the address printed on your form to be safe.⁶

Keep a copy of the signed form. If you mail it, certified mail with return receipt gives you proof of delivery.

Processing Time and Confirming the Change

Online submissions take up to two weeks. Fax or mail submissions take up to three weeks. Uploading through the portal generates an automated email confirming receipt, and once the change is approved Transamerica mails you completed copies of the updated designation regardless of how you submitted it.⁹

After the processing window, log into MyTransamerica and check that the beneficiary names and percentages match what you submitted. If the online records still show the old designation or you never got confirmation, call 800-523-7900 to check the status. A misrouted fax or a missing signature is the usual cause, and it is far better to catch it now than when a claim is filed.³

1
Transamerica. MyTransamerica – Service Forms
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Transamerica. Your Life Insurance Policy
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Transamerica. Customer Service Center
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Transamerica. Annuity Policy Change Form
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Transamerica. Beneficiary Designation Form
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Transamerica. Beneficiary Change Form
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Transamerica. What Is a Beneficiary? (It’s Important)
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 US Code 1055 – Requirement of Joint and Survivor Annuity and Preretirement Survivor Annuity
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Transamerica. Customer Service Center