Generally, when the account is established, the Coverdell Educational Savings Account (ESA) designated beneficiary must be under age 18. The designated beneficiary can be 18 or older ONLY if he or she is a special needs beneficiary. Coverdell ESAs beneficiary provisions also state that at the time of the child/recipient's death, if no beneficiary is named or none of the beneficiaries named are living, then the default designation is the child/recipient's estate.