Your beneficiary designations on items such as your individual retirement account or your life insurance policy are critically important for the company to determine who should receive your benefits if something happens to you.
Even though this is a pertinent detail of your estate planning, many beneficiary designations are often forgotten, mishandled or overlooked. Many different documents may require you to establish a beneficiary to receive assets if something happens to you.
Bank accounts, investment accounts, life insurance and retirement accounts, all frequently use beneficiary designations. It’s important to remember to check and update the beneficiary designation on these accounts on an annual basis since a beneficiary designation is your official legal instruction about who should receive these designations upon your death. Major life changes such as the birth of a child, divorce, or even remarriage also warrant looking at your beneficiary designations to make sure they are properly set up.
Far too many people fail to look at accounts that they’ve had for a long time, assuming that all of the beneficiary designations are in order. This could lead to someone you don’t want receiving the benefits and getting access to these assets if something were to happen to you..
If you’d like to talk about more essential elements of your estate planning, contact an experienced Massachusetts estate planning attorney today.
