Should beneficiary designations be reviewed at the same time as a will?

Question

The part I do not want to guess about is this: should beneficiary designations be reviewed at the same time as a will? The situation is that the will or trust says one thing while retirement, insurance, or payable on death forms may name someone else.

Soradin · Accepted Answer

For the issue described here, many retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and payable on death accounts pass according to the beneficiary designation on file rather than the will. For the issue described here, a coordinated estate review should compare every beneficiary form with the will or trust and add contingent beneficiaries where appropriate. A new will usually does not automatically rewrite those contracts.

Should beneficiary designations be reviewed at the same time as a will?

Soradin

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