Beneficiary for an annuity held by the Trust by unmarried owner

One-person plan has annuities in his plan.

He has beneficiaries designated for the plan (his children).

However the annuity company is asking for a beneficiary for their records.

I'm unsure, is the Plan the beneficiary, so that the Plan can receive the proceeds and then distribute the assets upon death?

Or do the annuities designate the children specifically since that is who is ultimately getting the proceeds?

2 minutes ago, TPApril said:

... is the Plan the beneficiary...?

No one reading here will have any information that is more important than reading the actual plan document(s) and annuity document(s).

Although TPAs give lots of legal advice that relates to one’s work as a TPA, this participant’s question might be more fully addressed by his lawyer.

Yet, with the caution that a prudent person ought to read the plan’s governing documents, the trust agreement or declaration (if the plan has a trust), the custody agreement (if the plan has a custodianship), each annuity contract, and anything more that might be relevant:

One arrangement (if none of the documents precludes it) is to name the retirement plan’s trustee, including successor trustees, as an annuity contract’s holder and particularly intended third-person beneficiary. That way, the plan’s trustee uses an annuity contract’s rights, collects the insurer’s payments, and pays each plan beneficiary according to the plan’s provisions.

Or, an annuity contract might be a substitute for what otherwise would be the retirement plan’s trust. See Internal Revenue Code of 1986 § 401(f)-(g), 26 C.F.R. § 1.401(f)-1 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/section-1.401(f)-1. If so, the plan’s administrator would name the plan beneficiaries as an annuity contract’s beneficiaries.

Also, if the participant, before his death, begins an annuity measured regarding a life beyond the participant’s life, the insurer might require the contract’s holder to name the second annuitant—even when the insurer’s payee will be the plan’s trustee or custodian. For a life-contingent annuity, an insurer needs to know whose death ends the insurer’s obligation.

This is not advice to anyone.