The Aviva life insurance trust form is really a choice of two deeds: the Aviva Discretionary Gift Trust (Protection), where the trustees decide who is paid from a group you name, and the Aviva Survivor Trust (Protection), for joint policies where the surviving partner is meant to receive the money. Aviva's trusts page presents a trust as the way to specify who benefits from a payout, and these two deeds are the forms it offers for doing that.
Weighing the two Aviva deeds against your own cover is a free phone job for an FCA-authorised broker; to line one up, use the form on this page.
Which Aviva policies can go in trust?
Aviva's trusts page says: "Aviva Trusts are available if you have a Life Insurance Plan or Over 50s life insurance (but not for a Critical Illness Plan or Free Parent Life Cover)."
A critical illness plan sold on its own is treated differently, which is covered in putting a critical illness policy in trust.
Discretionary Gift Trust or Survivor Trust: which Aviva deed fits?
| Aviva deed | Policies it is for | Who the money goes to |
|---|---|---|
| Discretionary Gift Trust (Protection) | Single or joint life policies | The trustees, for one or more people from a group of potential beneficiaries that includes children and grandchildren, including any born after the trust is set up |
| Survivor Trust (Protection) | Joint life policies, though not critical-illness-only policies | The surviving partner, if they are alive 31 days after the other's death; otherwise the trust's beneficiaries |
The Discretionary Gift deed says it is not suitable for a joint policy where you want either of you to receive the death benefit, and points to the Survivor Trust instead. On how long the survivor must live, Aviva's papers differ. The Survivor deed (print code AL53002 08/2026) pays the survivor if they are living on its Specified Date, which it defines as "the 31st day after the death of the first of the Settlors to die", and its notes say that if both of you die within 31 days of each other, the death benefit goes to the Default Beneficiaries you list in Box A. Aviva's Guide to trusts (print code EDCO0853 0126), describing the survivorship option in Aviva's personal trusts generally, gives 30 days. The same guide says trustees must run a trust in line with the terms of the trust document, and the Survivor deed says its guidance notes do not form part of the deed, so the period that applies is the one in the definitions of the deed you sign.
The same guide also describes a bare trust, in which "the beneficiaries and trust assets each beneficiary is entitled to are fixed at the start of the trust and it is not possible to change this or make additions to the trust." Whether Aviva has a bare form available for your own policy can be raised by the broker during that free conversation. Trust types outside Aviva are compared in life insurance trust options.
What do you fill in on an Aviva trust deed?
The Discretionary Gift deed (print code AL53003 08/2026) is set out in lettered parts, and these are the ones you fill in:
- Part A, the people. The date is the day the last person signs, and the deed's note warns not to backdate or forward-date it. The policyholder is the Settlor, a second policyholder goes under Settlor 2, and each additional trustee needs a name, date of birth and address. You are a trustee automatically, so you do not list yourself again; Aviva strongly recommends at least one more.
- Part C, the policy. Your policy number goes here. Any extra numbers you list are assigned to the trust as well, and the note says you cannot change your mind afterwards.
- Default Beneficiaries. You name the people who benefit if no appointment is made, with each person's percentage share. The shares must total 100%.
- The tick boxes in Part E. Unless you tick, the trustees hold any terminal illness benefit, and any critical illness benefit, for you. Ticking means you will not receive money from that kind of claim, and it goes to the trustees for the beneficiaries instead. There are further boxes of the same kind for other benefits, so read each against your own policy.
- Part G, the signatures. Every settlor and trustee signs. Each signature needs a witness aged over 18 who is not a settlor or trustee of the deed.
Aviva's guide adds that at least one trustee must not be a settlor, so a couple putting a joint policy in trust need someone else as well. Who to pick is covered in choosing a life insurance trustee, and joint policies in putting a joint policy in trust.
If it helps, a broker can go through each box against your own cover on a free phone call; just ask on the form on this page.
Where do you send the completed form?
Aviva's trusts page says: "To set up a Trust, fill in the application form and send it to us." It gives a postal address, Aviva BCC, PO Box 520, Norwich, NR1 3WG, or an email address, protection@aviva.com, and asks you to "include the whole form – even the pages you haven't written on." Check both on the page before posting.
Aviva's guide says the insurer does not need the deed when the policy starts, then asks for a copy after signing; the executed original is wanted only when a claim is made.
Which Aviva forms replace a trustee or add a beneficiary?
Aviva's trusts page links two change forms under the heading "Want to make changes to an existing Trust?": a Deed of Appointment and/or Retirement of Trustees, and a Deed of appointment of beneficiaries.
Trustees. The specimen Deed of Appointment/Retirement of Trustees lets a trustee retire or lets new or additional trustees be appointed. Its checklist asks for the deed to be signed with every signature witnessed by an independent witness aged 18 or over who is not related to the settlor or trustees. It says "All Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited trusts, must always have a minimum of two trustees", and that Aviva must be told when a trustee dies. Its checklist gives a different return address from the one for a new trust, so use the one printed on the form you download.
Beneficiaries. This depends on the deed you signed.
- In the Discretionary Gift Trust, Aviva's page says: "You can change the beneficiaries at any time by writing to the trustees to name who you want to benefit and how you want any money to be divided." The deed itself lets the settlor nominate a person or charity in writing to the trustees, and the Appointor can exclude people by deed.
- In the Survivor Trust, the guidance notes say potential beneficiaries receive nothing unless they are appointed by Deed.
- In a bare trust as the guide describes it, who benefits and their shares are fixed from the start, although the settlor can change the trustees.
Aviva's guide says an "Expression of Wishes" lets the settlor tell the trustees their preferences, but does not bind them. What the Deed of appointment of beneficiaries asks of you is worth a free phone call with a broker before you sign it.
Is there an Aviva beneficiary or nomination form for a policy not in trust?
Aviva's trusts page presents a trust as the way to specify who benefits from a payout. Without one, Aviva's guide says the benefits from a death during the policy term are payable to the settlor's estate, and that probate or letters of administration are then needed before the insurer can pay the personal representatives, which "can take several months". Whether Aviva would note a plain written wish against your policy is a question the broker can put to Aviva on your behalf.
The difference between a nomination, a trust and a will is set out in what a life insurance nomination form is, and the general steps for a policy outside a trust are in changing a life insurance beneficiary.
What about policies that were with AIG Life?
Aviva has a separate help page for policies issued by Aviva Protection UK Limited or AIG Life Limited, and says of them: "Please note, you can't view these policies on MyAviva." The trust forms above are the ones on Aviva's customer trusts page, so for a former AIG policy ask Aviva, through that help page's contact options, which forms apply. The background to the takeover is in AIG Life policies now run by Aviva, and finding a policy in finding your Aviva life insurance policy.
What do Aviva's papers say about advice, tax and cancelling?
Aviva's trusts page warns: "Setting up a Trust has tax and legal implications – and once it's been set up, you can't simply cancel it." Its guide adds: "you do not have a cooling-off period when you set up a trust", even though the policy itself has one. The deeds say Aviva strongly recommends legal or financial advice before setting one up.
On tax, Aviva's page says liability "will be dependent on your personal circumstances and tax rules at that time, which may change". The deeds add that most trusts holding Aviva protection policies are excluded from registration with HMRC, though in some circumstances a trust can become registrable and that is the trustees' job. The wider tax questions are covered in whether life insurance in trust is taxable. If you are weighing whether to use a trust at all, see whether life insurance needs to be in trust, and for the consequences of ending one, cancelling a policy in trust.
Other insurers use their own forms; see the pages on Legal & General, Royal London and Vitality, and the general steps in putting a policy in trust and under trusts and tax.
If the deed is still ahead of you, a broker can talk through what to settle first: trustees, shares, which benefits to keep. Nothing is charged for that conversation, which you can book via the form on this page.
Frequently asked questions
Does an Aviva Critical Illness Plan qualify for a trust deed?
No: the trusts page rules out a Critical Illness Plan. Critical illness cover that is part of a life policy can go in either deed, and the Discretionary Gift deed keeps that benefit for you unless you tick its box in Part E.
Can trustees leave or be removed from an Aviva trust?
Aviva's guide says a trustee can retire provided at least two trustees continue afterwards, with a replacement appointed if needed. The settlor can remove trustees in certain circumstances on the same two-trustee condition, and the continuing trustees can use that power after the settlor's death.
Sources
- Aviva, Aviva Trust for Life Insurance (undated web page), read 27 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
- Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited, Aviva Discretionary Gift Trust (protection) trust deed (print code AL53003 08/2026), read 22 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
- Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited, Aviva Survivor Trust (protection) trust deed (print code AL53002 08/2026), read 22 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
- Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited, Guide to trusts (print code EDCO0853 0126), read 18 October 2026. protection.aviva.com
- Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited, Deed of Appointment/Retirement of Trustees (specimen deed, print code EDCO2627 0126), read 21 October 2026. protection.aviva.com
- Aviva, Manage your Aviva life insurance policy | Former AIG (undated web page), read 27 October 2026. aviva.co.uk