Blog 2: Your Transition Roadmap

Last month a large package arrived from Commonwealth Financial Network. If you receive your documents electronically, it came as an email with links instead. Either way it was substantial, and several of you have asked us what you are supposed to do with it.

Here is the short answer. That package is the formal legal notice of the platform change we wrote about last week. It does not require you to do anything, and the accounts we manage for you will move to LPL on November 14 whether you sign it or not. This article walks through the rest of the sequence so nothing that arrives between now and then catches you off guard.

The package you received in August

Regulators require Commonwealth to give you advance written notice of this change, to explain the terms of your new agreement with LPL, and to give you the opportunity to decline. That is what the package is. It runs a hundred pages or more, and the bulk of it is the new client agreement and the required disclosures that go with it.

The process is called negative consent, which means your consent is assumed unless you affirmatively tell Commonwealth otherwise. If you want to keep working with us, there is nothing to sign, return, or reply to.

One thing we do need you to check

If the large package we mentioned above was returned to Commonwealth as undeliverable, the affected account is treated as having declined the transfer. That is how the process is built to work, but it can be reversed. The deadline to reverse it is October 23.

So if you did not receive a package in August, or if there is any chance the mailing address or email address that we have on file for you is out of date, please call our office. This is the one place in the entire transition where a piece of stale paperwork could create a problem, and it is easily fixed with a phone call.

If you would rather your accounts not move

There is no version of this where your accounts stay at Commonwealth. Declining the transfer means terminating your Commonwealth agreement, and that also ends our ability to advise you on those accounts. You would need to move them to another firm.

We do not expect that to be the right answer for anyone, but if you are weighing it, call us and we will talk it through honestly. We would rather you hear all the pros and cons of declining from us than piece it together from a disclosure document.

What comes next

• September: A reminder postcard from Commonwealth about the August package. Nothing is required of you.

• October: We keep publishing this series. Behind the scenes we are validating account data and identifying the accounts that will need paperwork. October 23 is the last day a delivery or address correction can be made.

• November 13: Commonwealth and LPL formally integrate.

• November 14: Your accounts and assets move to LPL, and you will receive new account numbers.

• Shortly after conversion: We will send you an invitation to set up your new online access. Your current login will not carry over, and there is nothing for you to set up until that invitation arrives.

• November and December: You will receive two account statements covering November, one for the period at Commonwealth and one from LPL. That is expected, not an error. For the same reason, you will receive two sets of tax forms next spring for the 2026 tax year.

Will I need to sign anything?

For roughly nine out of ten accounts, no. Individual accounts, joint accounts, traditional and Roth IRAs, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, and beneficiary IRAs held by individuals convert electronically without a signature.

The remaining group generally involves entities, or accounts where ownership and control are not the same as a personal account. Trust accounts, corporate accounts, LLCs and partnerships, UTMA accounts, guardianships and conservatorships, retirement plans, and a small number of specialized account types will require a signature. Nearly all of that paperwork can be signed electronically, and in most cases it can be completed after the conversion without interrupting your account.

If you are in that group, you will hear from us directly. You do not need to work out which category you fall into. That is our job, and we are going through every account now.

What do I need to do this week?

Confirm we have your current mailing address, email address, and phone number. If you did not receive a package from Commonwealth in August, tell us. That is all.

If anything in this series raises a question about your particular accounts, call the office. We would much rather answer it now than in November.