My dad passed away in Feb, and in December, we sat together and looked at his Empower 401K.
I am the only child and the sole heir (no spouse). There is a Will & Trust; they nominate me as the Executor and beneficiary of the Estate.
I ensured that my name alone is listed as the beneficiary on the Empower account. We took off my grandma’s name… she has long since passed.
I sent the death notification form and certificate to Empower, and then called to follow up, to make sure they will accept me as the beneficiary, and there are no problems. They are asking for Letters of Testamentary or Administration, both of which are generated by a probate process. I don’t get it. Are they just needing something “official” to look at? This account should pass outside of probate, and I do not need to enter probate because we did the Trust.
I can send them copies of the Will and the Certificate of Trust, but ugh. Any thoughts?
Empower asking for Probate letters
byu/goldenfire5 inpersonalfinance
Posted by goldenfire5
2 Comments
They should need nothing but your identification, your address and SSN. The account has no need for any probate information or process. In fact, your letter testamentary have absolutely nothing to do with the beneficiary claim.
All that matters here is he listed you as the beneficiary of the account. If he didn’t you have to proceed with probate. It will delay things but you will get it eventually.