Changing Beneficiaries on an Annuity

[mammaahmiaa]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ

My father had an annuity set for the primary beneficiary to be my mother. This annuity would become completely available to her in the next couple of years. She receives SSDI and is now living in a section 8 apt. because of her income. Anyone that knows anything about HUD understands that they count all assets you may have. On top of any money she may receive from selling the home she owns being counted as an asset, we also have the annuity. We decided that maybe we should switch her out of being primary beneficiary to my self being the primary, so she doesn't have that annuity tied to her name anymore. Can beneficiaries be changed after switching annuities from one company to another? For example, from Prudential to MetLife. The last set of paperwork is not yet completed, so can we switch? As of now, she is primary, i am secondary, then to my son. Please advise...What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[Betty]

Generally only the owner of the annuity can change the beneficiary. You
can't just go & say you want the bene changed from your Mother to you for example. You'll need to talk to the company you are switching the annuity to & see what they say.

I might caution you though that you need to be careful here or your Mom might get in "trouble." Normally, you cannot "transfer" an asset to
someone else to keep it from being included in the person's assets when applying for benefits based on income/assets. Sometimes this is considered fraud. (example SSI, HUD benefits or bankruptcy to keep assets out of bk estate......)