The Legal & General life insurance beneficiary form is, in practice, a trust form: Legal & General's consumer guide says "you’ll need to use a trust in order to name a life insurance beneficiary." Its Protection trusts page offers four, and which one you pick decides how much you can change later.
Before you pick a deed, you could ask an FCA-authorised broker how L&G's four forms work for your own cover; the call-back costs nothing, and you request it on the form on this page.
Which of the four Legal & General trust forms do you need?
Legal & General's Protection trusts page offers Absolute, Discretionary, Survivor's Discretionary and Flexible Trusts, each with its own deed and its own guide to download. The page describes them like this:
| Form | Who gets the money | What you can change afterwards |
|---|---|---|
| Absolute Trust | People you name when you sign | Not the beneficiaries: the page says they are fixed at the start |
| Discretionary Trust | Whichever of a listed group the trustees choose | The list can grow by a later deed of addition |
| Survivor's Discretionary Trust | The surviving settlor, if they outlive the first death by the stated period; otherwise the beneficiaries | Same discretionary approach, for joint first-death policies only |
| Flexible Trust | Default beneficiaries, unless the trustees pick from the wider group | Trustees can pick a discretionary beneficiary instead of a default one |
The wording behind each row is Legal & General's. On the Absolute Trust it says "The beneficiaries are fixed at outset and cannot be changed in the future." On the Survivor's form, the trustees pay the surviving settlor if they outlive the first death by 30 days, and otherwise the trust's beneficiaries. The same page adds that a joint policy not written in trust pays the surviving life insured. A Flexible Trust must have a default beneficiary appointed when it is created, and the page says these can be replaced by discretionary beneficiaries at any time.
The Survivor's form is the only one built around two people, so it is the one to look at if you hold a joint first-death policy and want the surviving partner to be able to receive the money. Legal & General's page says that under its Discretionary, Absolute and Flexible Trusts, the survivor on such a policy would not be a beneficiary. How the four kinds differ in general, beyond L&G's forms, is covered in the types of trust for life insurance.
What does an L&G trust form ask you to fill in?
Setting up a trust means completing a form, which Legal & General's page says is sometimes called a trust deed. Legal & General's Flexible Trust Deed opens with a checklist before you send it back. It asks you to put in the policy number if you know it, date the trust, give the settlor's details, name the default beneficiaries and any extra ones, say whether to keep any terminal or critical illness benefits for yourself, describe the policy, and sign.
The signatures matter. The same deed says witnesses must be adults who are not named in the trust and are not the spouse or civil partner of anyone who is. It also gives the address for completed deeds: "Completed trust deeds should be sent to: Trust Team, Legal & General Assurance Society Ltd, City Park, The Droveway, Hove, East Sussex BN3 7PY." Check that address on the form you download, because it is printed on the Flexible deed and your version may differ.
Three points from Legal & General's pages before you start:
- A trust can be set up when you take the policy out or at any time afterwards, so an existing policy is not too late.
- On a joint policy, both policyholders must agree to put it in trust.
- If ownership of a policy has been transferred, for instance as security for a loan, the page says a trust may not be possible.
The Flexible deed is designed for new policies or for assigning existing ones, not both in one deed, so a mix needs two deeds. Which of the four your plan type allows is a question for the broker once the call-back arrives.
How do you add or change a beneficiary later?
It depends on the trust you chose, so look at the form you signed. Legal & General's consumer guide says: "To add a beneficiary, ask your insurer for a ‘change of beneficiary’ form, which you can sign and return by email or post." It is written about a Discretionary Trust, and it warns that "you won’t be able to change or add beneficiaries to your life insurance policy if it’s been written into an Absolute Trust."
For a Discretionary Trust, L&G's Discretionary Trust Guide lists who counts as a beneficiary, including "Any person or charity you later name in a deed of addition". That is the route for someone born, married or met after the trust began. A letter of wishes can sit alongside; Legal & General describes it as a non-binding way of telling the trustees who the settlor would like to benefit.
If you are unsure whether your policy is already in trust, or which form it used, the trust pages on this site walk through the general position in changing a life insurance beneficiary, and a broker can help you work out what you hold.
Can you change trustees or end the trust?
Trustees are easier to change than beneficiaries. Legal & General says: "Yes, trustees can be changed. Depending on the trust wording, the trustee’s permission may be needed for them to be removed from the trust. It’s also possible to appoint a new trustee to the trust." The Flexible deed's notes add that it is important to replace any trustee who has died or whom you have lost touch with, and the Discretionary guide says the settlor can appoint further trustees at any time.
Trustees also need to tell Legal & General when their own details change, so its records stay current.
Ending a trust is harder. Legal & General's page says it "cannot usually be cancelled before it's served its original purpose." The consequences for the policy itself are set out in cancelling a policy that is in trust.
Is there a nomination form instead of a trust?
Some readers search for a "nomination form". For a personal life policy Legal & General says it pays the legal owner of the policy, and the distribution after that is up to the trustees, executors or administrators. Without a trust or a will naming someone, it says the lump sum would form part of the estate. The difference between the two routes is explained in what a nomination form is.
Does it cost anything, and do you need a solicitor?
On cost, the page states: "Our trust service is free and simple to use." On advice, the Flexible deed is blunt: "We therefore strongly recommend that you consult your own legal or tax adviser before proceeding." What a trust means for inheritance tax is a separate question, set out in whether life insurance needs to be in trust and under trusts and tax.
If you would like help with the paperwork for any of the four, a broker will ring once your contact details have gone through this page.
Other insurers have their own forms and rules, so do not carry any of this across. See the pages on Aviva, Royal London and Vitality.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I find the Legal & General trust form?
On Legal & General's Protection trusts page, where each of the four trusts has a deed and a guide to download. The general steps are in putting a life insurance policy in trust.
Does L&G let me name a beneficiary without a trust?
Its guide says no: a trust is needed to name one. With no trust, the cash goes to whoever legally owns the policy, and to their personal representative if that person has died.
Which trust lets me change who benefits?
Not the Absolute Trust, where the beneficiaries are fixed. The discretionary kinds leave the choice to the trustees from a list, and under the Flexible Trust the trustees can pass over the default beneficiaries for someone on its discretionary list.
Does a trust matter if a child is the beneficiary?
Legal & General's guide says children can be named when the policy is written in trust, but cannot receive the funds directly until they are 18 or older. See life insurance in trust for a child.
Can I put an existing policy into trust?
Yes. The Flexible Trust Deed says it can be used for new or existing Legal & General protection policies, though the Protection trusts page warns that a trust may not be usable where ownership of the policy has been transferred, for example as security for a loan.
Who keeps paying the premiums once the policy is in trust?
The Protection trusts page says the settlor usually pays them, and that the trust also comes to an end if the policy is cancelled because payments lapse. A broker can also explain what a lapse or change of cover would do to the trust.
Sources
- Legal & General, Protection trusts (undated web page), read 27 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Choosing a life insurance beneficiary (consumer guide, page dated 18 Aug 2026), read 27 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Flexible Trust Deed (Protection Gift Trusts, print code W12712 10/2023), read 27 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Protection Gift Trusts - Discretionary Trust Guide (print code W12709 08/26), read 27 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com