What is a beneficiary? 

A beneficiary is a person who can claim securities on the account once the account owner becomes deceased. Beneficiaries may be changed at any time and have no rights to the stocks while the account holder is still alive. 

A beneficiary is used primarily to avoid probate which is the administering of a deceased person’s will or the estate of a deceased person without a will. This also means that a Transfer on Death designation will override a will, trust or other estate plans you’ve made.
​

​