“Transitioning” A Trust Account

Non-investing personal finance issues including insurance, credit, real estate, taxes, employment and legal issues such as trusts and wills.
Post Reply
Topic Author
OhioGozaimas
Posts: 400
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2007 2:27 pm

“Transitioning” A Trust Account

Post by OhioGozaimas »

I was completely satisfied with Vanguard’s Mutual Fund accounts and would have been happy to stay until “the end” of them. But in response to VG’s entreaties (and the many BH “Just do it” comments), I started “transition” of my accounts on July 5.

I have a Rollover IRA, a Roth IRA and a Living Trust account.

The Rollover IRA and Roth IRA accounts were transitioned correctly in one day. A new account number with settlement account also was set up by VG for the new brokerage Trust account at the same time. So far, so good.

The Trust account required submission of an additional form - with attachment of scans of trust document pages - using DocuSign. This was submitted on July 6.

DocuSign advised that an Email confirmation would be sent when all approvals had been completed. There was no indication of how long the account setup process might take.

I received no further communication from VG or DocuSign. So, on 7/21, two weeks later, I called Vanguard.

A “Transition Team” CSR confirmed that they had my DocuSign application and there were no problems with it. My call was then transferred to a “Change of Ownership” CSR. This person, after more than an hour of discussion and holds, concluded that no action had yet been taken on my trust account change.

Another half-hour of back-and-forth resulted in setting up the needed asset transfers.

Both CSRs seemed knowledgeable and helpful.

So, the clock started on 7/21(?) to effect the asset transfers to the new brokerage Trust account.

A series of actions was reported on Confirmations July 27-29. The Trust brokerage account was completed as of July 29 (4 pm).

When logging in, I still get the “Transition your account today” pop-up message.

The now-empty MF Trust and Rollover IRA accounts still display with their Upgrade/Transaction buttons.

The empty MF Roth IRA account has disappeared. But its 12/31/2021 asset values are still posted to the display of Roth IRA “Balances compared to year-end.”

If I had not yet transitioned, I believe I would make a firm New Year’s Resolution to do it on January 2, 2023.

This is just one person’s experience/opinion. YMMV.
Map out your future – but do it in pencil. – Jon Bon Jovi
paul81LA
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2022 11:30 am

Re: “Transitioning” A Trust Account

Post by paul81LA »

On Aug. 10, I began to transition my Vanguard mutual fund accounts to new brokerage accounts, using the Vanguard online tools.

I have an IRA account and a Trust account.

The IRA account transitioned seamlessly. By the next morning, Aug. 11, the transition was complete.

The Trust account has me confused. I filled-out the online form, then verified and signed the DocuSign form, then submitted and completed the process. I had expected to upload some Trust documents, but the Vanguard software or DocuSign never asked me to upload.

The same afternoon of Aug. 10, I received a secure message from Vanguard:

"We have received your completed VBA Non Retirement Transition to a Brokerage Non IRA Application from DocuSign and have begun processing your request. We'll reach out to you if we need any additional information."

Has anyone else completed a Trust transition, and can comment on the wait-time for the next response and transition? Also, at what step did the Trust document upload occur?

Thank you very much.
paul81LA
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2022 11:30 am

Re: “Transitioning” A Trust Account

Post by paul81LA »

To update my note of Friday, August 12:

My Vanguard mutual fund Trust portfolio was successfully transitioned to a Brokerage account overnight, August 22-23.

Initially, when nothing had occurred by Wednesday, August 17, I telephoned the Vanguard transition team, and was told to submit the certification pages for my Trust. Accordingly, on August 17, I submitted the pages as an attachment to a secure E-Mail within my Vanguard account. The agent could not explain why the original submission process had not requested the Trust pages.

Then, coincidentally, on Thursday, August 18, I received a routine Vanguard E-Mail asking me to submit missing information, presumably the same certification pages. Per the E-Mail request, I telephoned a different number, and a helpful agent was able to view my Trust submission, and evaluate the progress of my transition. He said everything seemed OK and was progressing, and he would contact me, if more questions occurred.

On Friday, August 19, I noticed that a Brokerage account number had been created for me, with zero account value, while my existing mutual fund Trust portfolio was still functioning with its valid balances.

I noted that the Vanguard PDF document "Moving your Vanguard funds to a Vanguard Brokerage Account" stated:
"During the night of the move, you’ll be unable to access your brokerage or mutual fund assets from approximately midnight until 6 a.m., Eastern time."

On Monday evening, August 22, I was unable to access the value of my mutual fund assets. I hoped that some favorable transition was occurring overnight.

On Tuesday morning, August 23, my Brokerage account now showed my complete mutual fund Trust portfolio, with the expected balances.

On Wednesday, August 24, the system messages stopped asking me to transition my accounts.

In summary, the telephone transition agents were very courteous and helpful, but the overall Trust transition process is very opaque to the user. You should be able to login and view a progress indicator of your transition, but no such indicator exists. You are left to be patient, and telephone when your patience is exhausted.

Thank you very much.
LMK5
Posts: 539
Joined: Sat Jan 05, 2008 7:43 pm
Location: Good Ole USofA

Re: “Transitioning” A Trust Account

Post by LMK5 »

I've started the transition process using the "transition non-retirement account to brokerage" form. I found it a little disappointing when I saw that I would have to go through the trust pages submission again even though I already had an account that was registered in the trust's name. After all, with a transition I'm losing my automatic dividend exchange and my Treasury MM Fund so my motivation level isn't high :happy . That being said, after having gone through the process, would you recommend doing it a different way, waiting until the process is better streamlined, or possibly just sticking with the regular mutual fund account?
Ken Reckers
Posts: 56
Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:52 am

Re: “Transitioning” A Trust Account

Post by Ken Reckers »

I know it's an old thread, but here's our story.

Spouse is trustee of a trust for Child 1 and of another trust for Child 2. The trusts are identical except for the different beneficiary.

Mid-September she began transition. As previous posters report, you have to submit forms via DocuSign.

Child 2 trust transitioned without incident in about 10 days.

Two months later, Child 1 trust still has not been transitioned. We have been on the phone with V twice over the last two months, over an hour each time, maybe two. We uploaded additional documentation. We wait. Nothing happens. We tried the process from the beginning again, as recommended by the reps each time we called. We just got a letter today, call us because more info needed.
Post Reply