A life insurance nomination form is a signed note that tells the people in charge of a payout who you would like to receive it. In a group life scheme or beside a policy in trust it is often called an expression of wish, and it guides the trustees without binding them; some personal policies offer a direct nomination instead. Torn between a nomination and a trust for your own cover? An FCA-authorised broker will talk through both on a free phone call, arranged by the form on this page.
In short, a wish form guides trustees, a direct nomination tells the insurer whom to pay, and a trust changes who legally holds the money. For who can be named and how to swap one name for another, see what a life insurance beneficiary is and how to change a life insurance beneficiary.
What does a life insurance nomination form say?
Legal & General's Group Life Mastertrust Expression of Wish form (Q0043167 05/26) explains its job in its opening lines:
A benefit is paid if you were to die while you’re included in the Group Life Mastertrust scheme. The trustees will decide who to pay your benefit to. When they decide they’ll consider your circumstances at the time of your death, and your wishes recorded on this form.
The member names each person and the percentage they would like them to have, and where there is more than one, the percentages must add up to 100%.
Insurers use different names for the same idea. Legal & General calls it an expression of wish, Zurich's version for its Relevant Life Policy Trust is headed "Nomination form", and Royal London's is a "Letter of Wishes".
Does the form decide who gets the money?
Where the form goes to trustees, no. Zurich's nomination form (PW721096002, October 2021) has the person sign a statement that it "is in no way binding on the trustee(s) of the policy, and that the final decision as to who the benefits are payable will be made by the trustee(s) after my death."
Royal London's Letter of Wishes (P6LT0011/3) agrees: you can cancel or amend it at any time, but "the trustees always have discretion to decide which of the discretionary beneficiaries to make payment to." Aviva's guide to trusts (EDCO0853 0126) describes the document it calls an expression of wishes as "not binding on the trustees".
A direct nomination on a personal policy is different, because no trust sits behind it and the insurer pays the named people itself. Scottish Widows' Protect policy summary (61041 01/26) allows up to five beneficiaries, chosen before cover starts, on a single-life Life Cover or Life with Critical Illness Cover policy you own and are covered by; it can then pay them without waiting for probate or confirmation. That nomination cannot be removed, though putting the policy in trust overrides it. Royal London's Personal Menu Plan details (July 2025, PCP8P10010/17) also allow up to five nominated individuals, but no trust or charity.
Where is the form kept when cover comes from an employer?
With group life cover, the employer holds the policy and, in the schemes described below, the payout goes to trustees. Legal & General's form tells the member to give the completed form to their employer for safekeeping.
Legal & General's Mastertrust brochure (Q0043287 05/26) says that on a claim it asks for the employee's form, which should have been filled in when cover was arranged. The trustees then decide who receives the benefit, taking into account the form, the claim form and any investigation into the employee's circumstances.
What happens when no form exists is set by your scheme's rules, and a broker can go over the general position free when they phone.
Nomination form or trust: who controls the payout?
Group schemes and the trust forms above all run on a trust. Aviva's employer guide says its group life policy is placed under a trust, and Zurich's and Royal London's forms are addressed to trustees. In those arrangements the nomination form does not replace the trust; it sits on top of it.
| Nomination or letter of wishes | Trust | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Tells the trustees whom you would prefer | Gives the trustees legal control of the payout |
| Who decides | The trustees, with the form to guide them | The trustees, under the terms of the trust you chose |
| Changing it | Sign a new form, which replaces the old one | Depends on the trust type |
On that last row, Aviva's guide says a discretionary trust lets the beneficiaries and their entitlements be changed after it is created, because the decision is at "the absolute discretion of the trustees". Aviva's guidance on putting life insurance in trust (updated 30 June 2026) says that with an absolute or bare trust "beneficiaries can’t be changed".
How the choice affects tax is for the neighbouring pages: whether a payout is taxable and how a trust is taxed. Tax rules can change, and that is the general position, not tax advice. Whether a trust, a form or both suits you is something a broker can discuss once you send the enquiry form.
What do Royal London, Zurich and Aviva print for nominations?
Royal London's Letter of Wishes is for use with the discretionary trust forms it provides. You send a copy to each trustee and keep the completed form with the trust deed; Royal London says "You do not need to send a copy of this form to Royal London."
Zurich's nomination form says it should be kept by the trustees, and that "Zurich Assurance Ltd do not need to see a copy." It also says: "I can change or revoke this nomination at any time."
Aviva's route is built into the trust: for its Discretionary Gift Trust, its trusts page says you can change the beneficiaries "at any time by writing to the trustees".
Where do public-sector death-in-service schemes fit in?
Pension-linked schemes have their own forms and rules. The NHS Pension Scheme says you can nominate one or more people, or one organisation, to receive the lump sum on death, using form DB2. The Local Government Pension Scheme says the fund has "absolute discretion over who receives any lump sum death grant", while the Armed Forces Pension Scheme 2015 says "a valid nomination will take precedence" even where a spouse or partner exists.
So a nomination is not always only a wish: it depends on the scheme. See NHS death in service, local government death in service and armed forces death in service for each scheme, and group life assurance for employer cover generally.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to fill in a new form if my family changes?
Usually, yes. Legal & General asks members to fill in a new form, which replaces any earlier one, and Zurich's and Scottish Widows' relevant life forms each supersede an earlier version. Until you sign again, a form written before a marriage, separation or birth may be the one the trustees see.
Does Scottish Widows use a nomination form?
Yes, in two ways: beneficiary nomination on its Protect policies, described above, and a specimen letter of wish (41874 05/26) for its Relevant Life Policy Trust that, like Zurich's form, leaves the final decision to the trustees.
Is a trust better than a nomination form?
They do different jobs, as the table above shows. Whether to use a trust is for you and a professional to decide; see whether life insurance needs to be in trust, the trust options and how a policy is put in trust.
Sending the enquiry form is how you ask a broker to go over your own policy and its trust or wishes; our trusts and tax guides give the wider picture.
Sources
- Legal & General, Group Life Mastertrust Expression of Wish (Q0043167 05/26), read 27 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Introducing our Mastertrusts (Q0043287 05/26), read 20 October 2026. group-protection.legalandgeneral.com
- Zurich, Nomination form for the Relevant Life Policy Trust (PW721096002, October 2021), read 27 October 2026. zurichintermediary.co.uk
- Royal London, Letter of Wishes (P6LT0011/3), read 27 October 2026. royallondon.com
- Aviva, Guide to trusts (EDCO0853 0126), read 18 October 2026. protection.aviva.com
- Aviva, Putting life insurance in trust (last updated 30 June 2026), read 26 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
- Aviva, Aviva Trust for Life Insurance (undated), read 26 October 2026. aviva.co.uk/life/trusts
- Aviva, Employer guide to Group Life cover (GR01089_0126), read 23 October 2026. static.aviva.io
- NHS Business Services Authority, NHS Pensions 2015 Members Guide (V13, 05.2024), read 20 October 2026. nhsbsa.nhs.uk
- LGPS member website, FAQs: After you die (undated), read 20 October 2026. lgpsmember.org
- Scottish Widows, Scottish Widows Protect Personal Protection Policy Summary (61041 01/26), on Scottish Widows' adviser website, read 20 October 2026. adviser.scottishwidows.co.uk
- Scottish Widows, Letter of wish (relevant life policy trust) (41874 05/26), on Scottish Widows' adviser website, read 26 October 2026. adviser.scottishwidows.co.uk
- Royal London, Personal Menu Plan Life or Critical Illness Cover: Plan details (PCP8P10010/17, July 2025), read 21 October 2026. royallondon.com
- Veterans UK, Armed Forces Pension Scheme 2015: Your Pension Scheme Explained (May 2023), read 20 October 2026. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk