At a glance
- Existing account
- Retitled in place. The account number stays if the tax reporting number stays.
- Main form
- Change of Account Registration: Changing to a Trust, Estate, Guardian, or Conservator Brokerage Account (1.962772).
- Trust documents
- Fidelity Certification of Trust, or the trust pages showing its name, date, trustees and signatures.
- Signatures
- No medallion when owners become their own trustees. Required in defined cases above $10,000 or $100,000.
- Retirement accounts
- Not retitled. A trust is named on the Beneficiaries: IRA/HSA form.
Before filling in any form, settle the facts every institution asks for: see what to gather first.
Which form to use
Fidelity uses a change of registration form rather than a new application when an existing individual or joint account becomes a trust account. The form depends on the account type.
- Brokerage accounts: Change of Account Registration: Changing to a Trust, Estate, Guardian, or Conservator Brokerage Account (1.962772).
- Mutual fund only accounts: Change of Account Ownership: Changing to a Trust, Estate, Guardian, or Conservator Account (1.966971). A mutual fund only account submitted on the brokerage form is converted into a brokerage account.
- Cash Management Accounts: Change of Account Registration: Changing to a Cash Management Individual, Joint, or Trust Account. This form adds a condition the brokerage form does not: every current and future trust beneficiary must be a natural person.
One form covers one account. Fidelity says it cannot reregister the account unless the required documents come with the form.
The other route is to open a new trust account with the trust application (New Fidelity Account: Trust: Brokerage, 1.791205) and move assets into it. Fidelity requires the name and Social Security number to be identical on both accounts for that internal transfer, and closes the source account if its entire value moves.
What Fidelity accepts as proof of the trust
For a domestic trust, the form asks for the Fidelity Certification of Trust (1.900844). The current version has no notary block.
Fidelity also accepts pages of the trust document instead of the certification. The pages must show the full name of the trust, the trust date, the name of each trustee, and all signatures. Fidelity asks that the entire trust not be sent. A foreign trust must use pages.
The form also has a Beneficial Ownership for Trusts section, which must be completed. A certification of trust is a statutory instrument in most states; what funding letters and certifications do covers why institutions accept one in place of the full document.
Medallion signature guarantee or not
Fidelity publishes a matrix of who must sign and who needs a medallion signature guarantee. All trustees sign the trustee section in every case.
- Individual account, owner living, owner becomes the trustee: no medallion.
- Individual account, someone other than the owner becomes trustee: the owner needs a medallion if the account is over $10,000.
- Individual account, a co-trustee is added: the owner needs a medallion if the account is over $100,000.
- Joint account, the current owners are the trustees: no medallion.
- Joint account, only one current owner becomes trustee: the owners giving up ownership need a medallion if the account is over $100,000.
- Joint account, the current owners are trustees and trustees are added: the current owners need a medallion if the account is over $100,000.
Signing at a Fidelity Investor Center with all signers present removes the medallion requirement. Fidelity states that a notary seal is not a signature guarantee, so a notarized form does not satisfy a medallion requirement.
What happens to the account
The form asks whether the tax reporting number on the account stays the same. If it does, the account keeps its number and its features, except checkwriting and options. Checkwriting needs a new form signed by all owners.
A new account number is assigned if the primary owner, the person whose number the account reports under, will not remain the primary owner or is removed. In that case Fidelity asks that recent transactions clear before the form is submitted, and account features have to be set up again.
When the account number stays the same, the holdings stay where they are. Fidelity does not publish a processing time for a reregistration.
Later trustee changes
Adding or removing a trustee on an account that is already titled to the trust uses a separate form: Trustee Certification: Adding or Removing Trustees (1.791053).
IRAs and other retirement accounts
Fidelity's own guidance says an IRA cannot go into a trust during the owner's lifetime, and that a trust can be named as beneficiary on the IRA beneficiary designation form. The form is Beneficiaries: IRA/HSA (1.925787). Fidelity's individual and joint change of registration form also excludes retirement accounts.
IRAs, 401(k)s and other retirement accounts are not retitled to a trust. They are owned by one individual, and changing the owner can be treated as a distribution. Where a trust is meant to receive a retirement account, it is named on the institution's beneficiary form instead. Naming a trust has significant tax consequences, so the estate attorney and tax advisor should confirm the designation before it is submitted. See naming a trust as IRA beneficiary.
Accounts held through an advisor
The forms above are Fidelity's retail forms. Accounts that an independent advisor holds through Fidelity's advisor platform generally use that platform's forms, which are not public. The documents asked for are similar, but the advisor's service team confirms which forms and signature rules apply.
Common questions
Does Fidelity keep the same account number when an account changes to a trust?
Yes, if the tax reporting number on the account stays the same. A new number is assigned if the primary owner will not remain the primary owner or is removed.
Does Fidelity require a medallion signature guarantee to move an account into a trust?
Not when the owners become the trustees of their own trust. A medallion is required in defined cases: an individual account over $10,000 where someone other than the owner becomes trustee, or over $100,000 where a co-trustee is added. Signing at a Fidelity Investor Center with all signers present removes the requirement.
Does Fidelity need the full trust document?
No. Fidelity accepts its Certification of Trust, or pages showing the trust name, date, trustees and all signatures, and asks that the entire trust not be sent.
Can a Fidelity IRA be changed to a trust?
No. Fidelity says an IRA cannot go into a trust during the owner's lifetime. A trust can be named as beneficiary on the Beneficiaries: IRA/HSA form, after the estate attorney and tax advisor confirm the designation.
Forms and sources
Every fact on this page comes from Fidelity’s own published forms and pages, linked below. Form numbers are shown without revision codes, which change about once a year. Use the current version from Fidelity.
Bancroft is not affiliated with or endorsed by Fidelity. The name is used only to identify the institution. Requirements change; confirm with Fidelity before submitting forms. This page is general information about each institution’s published process, not legal or tax advice about any household’s accounts.