3 Things to Avoid When Naming Your Beneficiaries

If you’ve signed up for an IRA, 401K, or any life insurance policy, you must’ve come across a beneficiary designation document. The name you put in these forms makes an impact on all the decisions regardless of your intentions or any will.

To make sure that your highly valuable assets are handed over to your loved ones, here’s a list of common mistakes you must avoid.

Not Reviewing the Beneficiary Form

Life can take turns in the blink of an eye. You can’t be too sure that your beneficiary designation form is named after your spouse or any other family member.

To make sure that the beneficiary form isn’t outdated, you must review it annually or at least after any life-changing event like marriage, childbirth, divorce, or death. You wouldn’t want anyone else to benefit from your inheritance.

Regularly reviewing your form also allows you to make any changes in distributing your assets while you’re alive. Moreover, in case a company has lost your beneficiary form, you’d be able to figure it out instead of losing evidence of your financial assets.

 

Forgetting to Name a Contingent Beneficiary

If the person who’s responsible for your inheritance dies and there’s no one named as a contingent beneficiary then the responsibility to hand over your inheritance falls on a probate lawyer.

Although a probate lawyer will review your will or trust or inheritance plan and decide accordingly but forgetting to add a contingent beneficiary makes you lose the opportunity of choosing who’ll benefit from your assets.

Naming a Newborn Child as Beneficiary

It’s not illegal to name a newborn child as a beneficiary but the law doesn’t allow a handover of the assets to a minor until they turn 18 years old. Before that, a custodian will be responsible for the inheritance.

This can also put your assets at risk along with unnecessary administrative and legal expenses.

If you or anyone you know is in search of a wills and trusts attorney in Chico, connect with probate lawyers at The Law Offices of Ron Marquez. The firm offers its legal services to a wide range of individuals and businesses. Contact now!