Moving ownership of Vanguard Brokerage account to revocable living trust

[fetch5482]

My wife and I have a joint brokerage account with Vanguard. We want to move ownership to our revocable living trust, of which the two of us are current trustees.

Vanguard asked us to fill and send an "Application for Trusts". They would then open a new account owned by the living trust, and transfer assets from our jointly-owned brokerage account to this new account. This would be a non-taxable transfer of assets.

While filling out this form, we noticed that the form asks to include a "Completed change of ownership form". When looking for this form on Vanguard site, there were several different change of ownership forms. We are thoroughly confused which one we should be filling out. There are two forms that closely meets our situation:

1) (VBA) Change of Ownership of Brokerage Assets to a New Vanguard Brokerage Account Kit
"Use this form to move nonretirement holdings between Vanguard Brokerage Services® Accounts"

and
2) (VBA) Vanguard Brokerage Account Change of Ownership Between Nonretirement Brokerage Accounts Form
"Use this form to move holdings between nonretirement Vanguard Brokerage Accounts. The accounts don’t have to be identically registered—that is, have the same account owners and addresses."

Which of these should we be filling out? We have tried getting in touch with Vanguard support over phone and through the online portal's messaging, but they have not been very helpful and keep asking us to "follow the instructions on the trust form kit".

[neilpilot]

When I consolidated and moved our 5 accounts, I considered Vanguard but ended up going to Scottrade, in part due to easy access to their local office. When I read your posting, it confirms that I made the right decision.

[dbr]

When a broker cannot or will not assist you in doing business with them, you should take your business elsewhere. In fact, it is possible that Vanguard does not consider managing accounts to be a business they are interested in, as distinct from managing funds and then doing the minimum necessary for people to access those funds at Vanguard.

It is entirely possible to hold most Vanguard funds and ETFs at other brokers while keeping transaction costs under control. Other companies also have investment products that can be just as effective as those operated by Vanguard.

[bostondan]

While setting up a trust at Fidelity, they completed all the forms for us. I then just confirmed that it all looked correct and obtained the necessary signatures. They have done the same with many other tasks. They will often pre-fill, send to us by overnight FedEx and also include a prepaid return envelope. It could not be easier.

[NotWhoYouThink]

I managed this at Vanguard without a lot of stress. Probably picked Option 2. There was something about a Medallion signature requirement, but they didn't need that if you had Vanguard voice verification. It wasn't that hard, not sure what all the angst here is about. Yes, it could be a little friendlier and they could help a little more, but it was a minor inconvenience at most.

[Big Dog]

We have tried getting in touch with Vanguard support over phone and through the online portal's messaging, but they have not been very helpful ...

Getting setup with Vanguard can be a PIA, but then its only done once, so to me, the little hassle is worth it. Of course, others prefer a walk-in retail office.

Probably picked Option 2.

But if you do pick wrong, they'll let you know.

That being said, have you asked for a Supervisor? When I run into a customer support issue with any corp, I just ask for the next level up. I did just that last week when I was on the phone with Verizon, and the Super, said, "oh, I see what you are trying to do....that requires a different setup, and not all of our Associates are aware of out to do it...."

[HueyLD]

My biggest concern for the OP is that the entire process could take months because Vanguard seems to have a serious backlog.

In addition, he may have trouble getting medallion signature guarantee because very few banks are willing to provide this service, especially if the dollar amount is large. And yes you can get it done with voice recognition, but even that requires jumping thru the hoops.

I wish Vanguard would improve their customer service soon because an inadequate service is not a sustainable business model. It pains me to have to experience subpar service myself and found out that I wasn't alone.

[michaeljc70]

My biggest concern for the OP is that the entire process could take months because Vanguard seems to have a serious backlog.

In addition, he may have trouble getting medallion signature guarantee because very few banks are willing to provide this service, especially if the dollar amount is large. And yes you can get it done with voice recognition, but even that requires jumping thru the hoops.

I wish Vanguard would improve their customer service soon because an inadequate service is not a sustainable business model. It pains me to have to experience subpar service myself and found out that I wasn't alone.

I'd be curious to see if there would be more complaints about increased expenses or more praise about improved service if they did spend more on customer service.

I am no defender of Vanguard and have even complained on this board about the service. I am hoping that 1) I don't need help often (I prefer self service if available) and 2) the big recent influx of assets will help improve customer service without increasing expenses (much).

[jodydavis]

I did this just recently (i.e. moved ownership from individual account to a new account owned by a revocable living trust) and filled out form no. 2 on your list. It was very straightforward, although as others have noted, it did take several weeks for the new account to be established and then a few more for the funds to be transferred into the new account. So definitely take into account the potential for some delay, as they are quite backlogged.

[dbr]

I'd be curious to see if there would be more complaints about increased expenses or more praise about improved service if they did spend more on customer service.

It is in the interest of some of us that Vanguard not spend money on customer service and continue the downward evolution of fund costs. The question is what is the best method to make the product available to investors without getting into the business of servicing accounts. Maybe there should be a fee to cover the expenses of account management for people that want or need that at Vanguard. There is already a precedent in the PAS offering.

[fourwheelcycle]

Ditto what jodydavis just said.

We hate to take the time to get notary or medallion signatures, so we were glad to see we could use voice verification. It did take two months for processing and funds transfer, but it ultimately worked out fine. We were combining two individual revocable trusts into one joint trust.

[michaeljc70]

I'd be curious to see if there would be more complaints about increased expenses or more praise about improved service if they did spend more on customer service.

It is in the interest of some of us that Vanguard not spend money on customer service and continue the downward evolution of fund costs. The question is what is the best method to make the product available to investors without getting into the business of servicing accounts. Maybe there should be a fee to cover the expenses of account management for people that want or need that at Vanguard. There is already a precedent in the PAS offering.

Yes, but who do you charge and for what? You can create the sense that customers are being nickeled and dimed. I think some customers (typically older people) drive the expenses up since they tend to call more and about more things. I only will call if I've searched their website, this board and emailed them. I hate calling any company. Seeing how my Grandparents are, I bet there are people that call every week/month with some question or to make sure something is right.

Maybe fees on more complicated accounts/transactions would be appropriate. I think Vanguard wants those transfers though and doesn't want to start charging for them. They don't want people going elsewhere because there is a transfer fee for a trust.

A big flaw I see in Vanguard's service is that the website isn't that great and there aren't readily apparent self-serve options for those that would use them. It took them 8 days to respond to my email request. Then you just get people calling which tends to cost more.

[fetch5482]

Thanks all for the reply. Called up VG customer service & talked to supervisor as someone suggested above.

Form #2 above was the correct form. She also asked to send an account registration form instead of trust registration form. They Do NOT require medallion signature in this case because the SSN numbers are not changing for tax purposes (since the current owners are also co-trustees). I'm keeping my fingers crossed as I send these forms, that they don't come up with new forms to fill up now. She said it will take 2-3 weeks for them to process the form, which is acceptable to me.

[HueyLD]

Make sure you send in the forms via a certified mail with returned receipt requested.

[dbr]

I'd be curious to see if there would be more complaints about increased expenses or more praise about improved service if they did spend more on customer service.

It is in the interest of some of us that Vanguard not spend money on customer service and continue the downward evolution of fund costs. The question is what is the best method to make the product available to investors without getting into the business of servicing accounts. Maybe there should be a fee to cover the expenses of account management for people that want or need that at Vanguard. There is already a precedent in the PAS offering.

Yes, but who do you charge and for what? You can create the sense that customers are being nickeled and dimed. I think some customers (typically older people) drive the expenses up since they tend to call more and about more things. I only will call if I've searched their website, this board and emailed them. I hate calling any company. Seeing how my Grandparents are, I bet there are people that call every week/month with some question or to make sure something is right.

Maybe fees on more complicated accounts/transactions would be appropriate. I think Vanguard wants those transfers though and doesn't want to start charging for them. They don't want people going elsewhere because there is a transfer fee for a trust.

A big flaw I see in Vanguard's service is that the website isn't that great and there aren't readily apparent self-serve options for those that would use them. It took them 8 days to respond to my email request. Then you just get people calling which tends to cost more.

The proposal would be an account fee to have Vanguard hold your investments. Then they would have enough money to provide better service. Those who don't place their investments at Vanguard would not pay that fee but might pay other costs to their brokers. For example, I pay $80/year and transaction costs to hold Vanguard funds in the brokerage link in my 401k. I don't want higher ERs to support Vanguard account service for people holding funds at Vanguard when I don't hold my funds there. (In case someone is worried about it, the cost of doing this is an addition to my overall investment costs that is negligible.)

[Whakamole]

Vanguard specifically pointed me to form (2) when I asked.

[FinanceGeek]

It is in the interest of some of us that Vanguard not spend money on customer service and continue the downward evolution of fund costs. The question is what is the best method to make the product available to investors without getting into the business of servicing accounts. Maybe there should be a fee to cover the expenses of account management for people that want or need that at Vanguard. There is already a precedent in the PAS offering.

For me, BOBW is holding VG ETFs in a Fidelity brokerage account.

Just recently, I retitled a Fidelity brokerage account into a living trust. I grabbed the forms online and filled them out as best I knew how to . Then, I made an appointment at my local investor center, the service associate checked my id, reviewed my paperwork, had me sign, and gave me the new account number. The appointment took 30 minutes and the assets showed up in the new account the next business day. It even appears that they moved over the cost basis info correctly.

[michaeljc70]

It is in the interest of some of us that Vanguard not spend money on customer service and continue the downward evolution of fund costs. The question is what is the best method to make the product available to investors without getting into the business of servicing accounts. Maybe there should be a fee to cover the expenses of account management for people that want or need that at Vanguard. There is already a precedent in the PAS offering.

For me, BOBW is holding VG ETFs in a Fidelity brokerage account.

Just recently, I retitled a Fidelity brokerage account into a living trust. I grabbed the forms online and filled them out as best I knew how to . Then, I made an appointment at my local investor center, the service associate checked my id, reviewed my paperwork, had me sign, and gave me the new account number. The appointment took 30 minutes and the assets showed up in the new account the next business day. It even appears that they moved over the cost basis info correctly.

Is there a fee to buy/sell those ETFs? Are these expenses the same as the Admiral Funds? The old adage you get what you pay for sometimes applies. Due to the scale of their business and nature of Vanguard (it is owned by the funds themselves) you tend to get more than you pay for.

[dbr]

Is there a fee to buy/sell those ETFs? Are these expenses the same as the Admiral Funds? The old adage you get what you pay for sometimes applies. Due to the scale of their business and nature of Vanguard (it is owned by the funds themselves) you tend to get more than you pay for.

I hold both Vanguard Admiral funds and ETFs at different brokers not including Vanguard but including the brokerage link in the 401K. My overall investment expense ratio is running at 0.13% including 0.02% coming from transaction costs. How much you end up spending on transaction costs depends on your situation and is affected by how often you trade and how large the amounts are.

Vanguard ETFs have the same expense ratios generally as Admiral class funds. At most brokers it costs around $8.95 to trade an order for an ETF, but many investors will have accounts with free trades.

[FinanceGeek]

Is there a fee to buy/sell those ETFs? Are these expenses the same as the Admiral Funds? The old adage you get what you pay for sometimes applies. Due to the scale of their business and nature of Vanguard (it is owned by the funds themselves) you tend to get more than you pay for.

At Fidelity, I pay $7.95 per ETF trade. I only make 3 or 4 trades a year, if that, with re-balancing. For the ETFs I own, the ER seems to be the same as the Admiral shares class of the fund. Despite the commissions, I think the ETFs are better because I'm not required to meet the high minimums of Admiral funds. Also as a theoretical benefit there are no short term trading restrictions - I say theoretical because that doesn't apply to my investing practices but its still an advantage of holding ETFs over the Investor/Admiral share classes of the same fund.

I also keep a Vanguard account in which I own several of their funds which are not offered as ETFs. Those are expensive to buy at Fidelity, so I don't buy them there.

Don't get me wrong - I love just about all of Vanguard's fund offerings (both index and actively managed). But Fidelity provides me with fantastic customer service, a fantastic website, and walk-in investor centers when I need them (which is once every few years). For me, the customer service Fidelity gives me ts certainly worth the $25-$30 a year that I pay in commissions to get Vanguard's funds.

Both firms probably frown on me as a customer because I also buy "the other guy's" product. But to circle back to DBR's earlier point of separating the fund management from the account management - I feel like I've optimized my investing strategy to take full advantage of the strengths of both firms at very little premium over the lowest possible cost. YMMV.

[Earl Lemongrab]

For me, BOBW is holding VG ETFs in a Fidelity brokerage account.

Is there a fee to buy/sell those ETFs? Are these expenses the same as the Admiral Funds? The old adage you get what you pay for sometimes applies. Due to the scale of their business and nature of Vanguard (it is owned by the funds themselves) you tend to get more than you pay for.

I would disagree. I get more than I pay for at places like Merrill Edge. I can buy Vanguard ETFs (which have the same ERs as Admiral) with no transaction fees due to Preferred Rewards. That also gives me a 75% bonus on my BofA credit card rewards. Not to mention that ME gave me a cash bonus to move the assets there in the first place.

You can like Vanguard accounts all you want, and if a simple setup with Admiral funds is what you want then that's the place to be. Don't kid yourself that it's the best deal in town. The savvy investor can do a lot better with a little effort.

Earl

[michaeljc70]

For me, BOBW is holding VG ETFs in a Fidelity brokerage account.

Is there a fee to buy/sell those ETFs? Are these expenses the same as the Admiral Funds? The old adage you get what you pay for sometimes applies. Due to the scale of their business and nature of Vanguard (it is owned by the funds themselves) you tend to get more than you pay for.

I would disagree. I get more than I pay for at places like Merrill Edge. I can buy Vanguard ETFs (which have the same ERs as Admiral) with no transaction fees due to Preferred Rewards. That also gives me a 75% bonus on my BofA credit card rewards. Not to mention that ME gave me a cash bonus to move the assets there in the first place.

You can like Vanguard accounts all you want, and if a simple setup with Admiral funds is what you want then that's the place to be. Don't kid yourself that it's the best deal in town. The savvy investor can do a lot better with a little effort.

Earl

When I look at the $0 transaction fees it has this footnote:

"4 Additional transaction fees
In addition to your options commissions, sell orders may be subject a transaction fee (of between $0.01 to $0.03 per $1,000 of principal). If applicable, this fee appears under "Transaction Fee" on a Trade Confirmation."

Not that that is a lot, but it is something.

I already get 2% cash back on my credit card, so I am not sure how much you are getting with the 75% bonus. So I am not sure how you are doing "a lot better".

[bostondan]

When I look at the $0 transaction fees it has this footnote:

"4 Additional transaction fees
In addition to your options commissions, sell orders may be subject a transaction fee (of between $0.01 to $0.03 per $1,000 of principal). If applicable, this fee appears under "Transaction Fee" on a Trade Confirmation."

Not that that is a lot, but it is something.

I already get 2% cash back on my credit card, so I am not sure how much you are getting with the 75% bonus. So I am not sure how you are doing "a lot better".

That fee is generally required to be charged by all companies. It is an SEC fee, though I'm not sure exactly what the purpose is. The documentation at Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, and others also have this as a footnote. If anything, it is just less hidden at ME.

As for the cash back, I end up with 5.25% back on gas and 3.5% on groceries and wholesale clubs due to the 75% bonus. This is a very good deal.

[bostondan]

From Fidelity:

In addition to the commission, there is an assessment charged on all sell orders. This assessment, which typically ranges from $0.01 to $0.03 per $1,000 of principal, is intended to cover what is sometimes referred to as a “regulatory fee” or “Section 31 Fee.” Fidelity remits these fees to certain self-regulatory organizations and national securities exchanges, which in turn make payment to the SEC.

Another discussion on this fee at Vanguard: viewtopic.php?t=181373

I don't have any particular love of Merrill Edge (though I do use it), but just want to make it clear that this fee is not ME specific since I have seen it brought up multiple times now.

[SGM]

I don't foresee that as being a problem at Vanguard for us and I may set up a revocable living trust soon. I like that they want to be careful about changing ownership to prevent fraud.

I do know that they do not accept a lawyers form for a financial power of attorney and that you have to fill out Vanguard's forms. This sounds like a safety feature against fraud as well. It is best to clear all these things up when you have the mental capacity to do so and to spare your heirs a lot of headaches whether you are alive and can no longer make decisions or are deceased. Not a pleasant subject, but I recently listened to a local bank CFP discuss this issue.

[Artsdoctor]

If you're going to use trusts, you're going to encounter paperwork. It takes added effort to fund a trust, and later it takes added effort to collapse a trust. I have come to accept this a job, although I wish I didn't have to. I've dealt with Vanguard, Fidelity, and Schwab and each has its strong and weak points. Frankly, I found TreasuryDirect the worst to deal with.

I wish that it would be easier with Vanguard and I'm sorry to say that I have transferred assets into trusts just assuming the worst, as opposed to assuming there would be no problems. I actually chose to do the transfers in three steps at Vanguard: first, I transferred over individual municipal bonds from the joint taxable account into a trust account. Then, I transferred over specific lots of mutual fund shares which were covered into separate trusts. And last, I transferred over non-covered shares into the trusts. There were no mistakes made, and it took less time than I thought. However, I had my representative contact me with each stage to verify that it was correct in addition to verifying on the website.

I had to transfer assets at Fidelity into a trust, and that was very easy. However, I continue to get phone calls from the representative assigned to me trying to get me to invest in products I have no interest in. I ultimately blocked his number on my cell phone.

[fetch5482]

Just wanted to update the thread. I sent the necessary paper work last week to them. They received it on Monday (10/31). The trust account was created on Thursday (11/6), and all the assets were transferred on Friday (11/7). The turn around time was far better than I expected. I did have to do the trial deposits to re-verify my bank accounts. No medallion signatures were necessary, and the process was relatively painless once the proper forms were determined.

[Lieutenant.Columbo]

Just wanted to update the thread. I sent the necessary paper work last week to them. They received it on Monday (10/31). The trust account was created on Thursday (11/6), and all the assets were transferred on Friday (11/7). The turn around time was far better than I expected. I did have to do the trial deposits to re-verify my bank accounts. No medallion signatures were necessary, and the process was relatively painless once the proper forms were determined.

can you also move NON-joint assets (such as retirement accounts: TRAD-IRA, Roth-IRA, 401k) into your joint living/revocable trust?

[fetch5482]

Just wanted to update the thread. I sent the necessary paper work last week to them. They received it on Monday (10/31). The trust account was created on Thursday (11/6), and all the assets were transferred on Friday (11/7). The turn around time was far better than I expected. I did have to do the trial deposits to re-verify my bank accounts. No medallion signatures were necessary, and the process was relatively painless once the proper forms were determined.

can you also move NON-joint assets (such as retirement accounts: TRAD-IRA, Roth-IRA, 401k) into your joint living/revocable trust?

For retirement accounts (401k, tIRA, Roth IRA), my attorney recommended keeping self as owner, spouse as primary beneficiary, and the trust as secondary beneficiary -- which is what I did. You can do that online it self at Vanguard.com without needing any documentation. Check with your attorney if he/she recommends a similar arrangement though.

Edit: take a look at this post as well. http://blog.annuity123.com/should-you-n ... a-or-401k/

Naming your Spouse as a Primary Beneficiary instead of the Trust will give your surviving spouse more options on what they can do with the money and deferring income taxes.

[miket29]

I recently set up a living trust and moved ownership of my regular Vanguard brokerage account into the trust. I had searched on the forum and read threads including this one, also did some searching online, so I thought I'd post an update on how I did it and what I'd do differently. I did this all online, no mailing of forms.

Overall it wasn't difficult. There are 2 steps:

• create a new trust account
• transfer funds from the regular account to the trust

I didn't want to fill out the wrong form or fill it out incorrectly so I called Vanguard and got a callback about 20 minutes later. The rep was familiar with the process and filled out the form which I then needed to sign. Two emails appeared in my inbox at Vanguard, the first to sign the account application and the second to fund it.

The link in the first email was to a docusign form that I clicked in the appropriate boxes to "sign". Then I uploaded a pdf copy of my Certification of Trust that my attorney had prepared and notarized. A few days later the trust appeared in my list of account, zero balance.

Now I turned to the second email, which was for a docusign form "Change of Ownership Between Vanguard Nonretirement Accounts" to transfer the assets. I went thru it carefully, or so I thought. But there was one catch. I use specificID when selling shares, and in part of the form it says "To set or change your preferred cost basis method for each holding prior to the move..." so I made sure the cost basis method in my existing brokerage account was set to specificID for each. After submitting this form a few days later the assets were transferred to the trust, but the cost basis method was average cost for the mutual funds. I called and the rep said I should have set the cost basis for the new trust account. This seems a little dubious since the trust didn't have any holdings prior to the transfer, and I can't go back to see if it would work now that the transfer is done. All turned out well though; as he suggested I just went to the trust account and changed the method for each holding to specificID and a day later it was changed. He said Vanguard keeps the info on each purchase so even though it started off as average cost in the new account they had the records to change it to specificID and that was not lost in the transfer.

Problems I did not have
I wanted to be prepared so I did some web searching before starting the process. In various threads and blog posts about doing this type of transfer people have listed a few problems so I want to list what did not go wrong

• requiring a Medallion signature for the transfer -- I have 2-factor authentication set up, so when I was filling out the form they texted me a code which I entered. I was never asked for a Medallion signature
• losing the cost basis -- I had read about losing the cost basis in the thread https://thefinancebuff.com/switching-br ... -edge.html To be on the safe side, before I did the transfer of assets I printed my entire unrealized cost basis info for the account to a pdf. Once I finally got the cost basis set to specificID for the trust I compared it against the pdf and it was all correct
• online transfers to a bank -- in one thread someone had wrote that it can be difficult to establish online transfers between the trust account and a bank, that both the bank and Vanguard need to agree. Maybe I misread that thread. In any event, I already have my bank set up for transfer to Vanguard and once the trust account was open the bank account appeared in the pulldown for transfer just like it did for the regular account. I have done transfers with no problems.

[fetch5482]

I recently set up a living trust and moved ownership of my regular Vanguard brokerage account into the trust. I had searched on the forum and read threads including this one, so I thought I'd post an update on how I did it and what I'd do differently. I did this all online, no mailing of forms.

Overall it wasn't difficult. There are 2 steps:

• create a new trust account
• transfer funds from the regular account to the trust

I didn't want to fill out the wrong form or fill it out incorrectly so I called Vanguard and got a callback about 20 minutes later. The rep was familiar with the process and filled out the form which I then needed to sign. Two emails appeared in my inbox, the first to sign the account application and the second to fund it.

The link in the first email was to a docusign form that I clicked in the appropriate boxes to "sign". Then I uploaded a pdf copy of my Certification of Trust that my attorney had prepared and notarized. A few days later the trust appeared in my list of account, zero balance.

Now I turned to the second email, which was for a docusign form "Change of Ownership Between Vanguard Nonretirement Accounts" to transfer the assets. I went thru it carefully, or so I thought. But there was one catch. I use specificID when selling shares, and in part of the form it says "To set or change your preferred cost basis method for each holding prior to the move..." so I made sure the cost basis method in my existing brokerage account was set to specificID for each. After submitting this form a few days later the assets were transferred to the trust, but the cost basis method was average cost for the mutual funds. I called and the rep said I should have set the cost basis for the new trust account. This seems a little dubious since the trust didn't have any holdings prior to the transfer, and I can't go back to see if it would work now that the transfer is done. All turned out well though; as he suggested I just went to the trust account and changed the method for each holding to specificID and a day later it was changed. He said Vanguard keeps the info on each purchase so even though it started off as average cost in the new account they had the records to change it to specificID and that was not lost in the transfer.

Problems I did not have
In various threads and blog posts about doing this type of transfer people have listed a few problems so I want to list what did not go wrong

• requiring a Medallion signature for the transfer -- I have 2-factor authentication set up, so when I was filling out the form they texted me a code which I entered. I was never asked for a Medallion signature
• losing the cost basis -- I had about losing the cost basis in the thread https://thefinancebuff.com/switching-br ... -edge.html To be on the safe side, before I did the transfer of assets I printed my entire unrealized cost basis info for the account to a pdf. Once I finally got the cost basis set to specificID for the trust I compared it against the pdf and it was all correct
• online transfers to a bank -- in one thread someone had wrote that it can be difficult to establish online transfers between the trust account and a bank, that both the bank and Vanguard need to agree. Maybe I misread that thread. In any event, I already have my bank set up fro transfer to Vanguard and once the trust account was open the bank account appeared in the pulldown for transfer just like it does for the regular account

Thanks for the detailed post. Glad to see vanguard moved beyond the "snail mail" world and adopted docusign for this process.

[jgalt133]

I had a very similar experience. After setting up a living trust, I was able to open a Vanguard Trust Account online (via their eforms and DocuSign) and then transfer both my wife's brokerage assets and my brokerage assets into the trust. Very smooth.

[portquery]

I had a very similar experience. After setting up a living trust, I was able to open a Vanguard Trust Account online (via their eforms and DocuSign) and then transfer both my wife's brokerage assets and my brokerage assets into the trust. Very smooth.

@jgalt133 did you move 2 account ( you and your wife's) to single new trust account? TIA

[jgalt133]

I had a very similar experience. After setting up a living trust, I was able to open a Vanguard Trust Account online (via their eforms and DocuSign) and then transfer both my wife's brokerage assets and my brokerage assets into the trust. Very smooth.

@jgalt133 did you move 2 account ( you and your wife's) to single new trust account? TIA

Yes two accounts to single new trust account.

[400bicycle]

Just wanted to share that, Vanguard can now create the new trust account and initiate the transfer in one step. I wasn't able to figure out how just from searching online, but called them up, they collected answers to a few questions, and then sent me a message on their website with the link to continue with e-signing and uploading the trust doc. The whole process took about 10 minutes end to end, I don't think it could possibly be smoother.

[fetch5482]

Just wanted to share that, Vanguard can now create the new trust account and initiate the transfer in one step. I wasn't able to figure out how just from searching online, but called them up, they collected answers to a few questions, and then sent me a message on their website with the link to continue with e-signing and uploading the trust doc. The whole process took about 10 minutes end to end, I don't think it could possibly be smoother.

Great to know they've improved this drastically. I moved my assets to Fidelity a few years ago, but I'm happy to see the improvements at vanguard.

Hopefully your tax lot and dividend settings carried over, but if you're using spec ID and/or not reinvesting dividends (to avoid wash sales with TLH) like I do, good to double check those in the new account.