Please, right now, stop what you are doing and take a few minutes to log into your retirement accounts and call your insurance broker to check your beneficiary designations. The theme this week has been people who have passed with no beneficiary designated or with the incorrect beneficiary designated.
In one case, a man designated his wife as the beneficiary on his retirement account. They divorced, he remarried, and lived another twenty years. But he never changed his beneficiary from his ex-wife. Now that he’s gone, his survivors have a real problem on their hands.
In another case, a woman passed with no beneficiary designated. This has set the stage for a possible fight among the children and/or some hurt feelings.
So please go check those designations — you might be surprised what you find. And if you need help or aren’t sure whom to designate (your trust? your estate? your kids? their descendants?), please call Learned Lawyer today!
