Owners, Annuitants and Beneficiaries

Joint owners are permitted ONLY if the joint owners are married to one another; non-spousal joint ownership is not permitted. If spousal joint owners are named, the following precautions should be taken:

The joint ownership should be “With Right of Survivorship” so that full ownership will transfer to the survivor when the first joint owner dies.

The sole primary beneficiary should name both spouses and include language relating to the survivor of the two, i.e. John Doe and Mary Doe, or to the survivor.

Example: John and Mary purchase a deferred annuity and name themselves as joint owners. John is the annuitant, and the beneficiary is as just described. In the event Mary dies first, the death benefit payable on account of her death is payable to John. John, being the sole beneficiary, may continue the contract as discussed above.

In the event John dies first, sole ownership passes to Mary under the rights of survivorship. Mary is also the surviving beneficiary. Mary will then name herself as the new annuitant. She should also review and update the beneficiary designation as required following John’s death. Without a change, when she dies all primary beneficiaries will be dead, so the benefits will pass to any named contingent beneficiaries. If there are no contingent beneficiaries, the death proceeds will be paid to Mary’s estate.

Children should NOT be included in the primary beneficiary designation for a married Owner/Annuitant; otherwise, the surviving spouse will not be able to continue the contract.

Children should be listed only as contingent beneficiaries in this scenario.