December 2017 - Beneficiary Designations State of Estates

Clients who have prepared a will or trust are often surprised to find that beneficiary designations override their estate planning documents. The recipients of life insurance, retirement benefits, and even survivorship interests in annuities are often predetermined. In some cases, a client may also have inadvertently added a beneficiary to a cash or investment account. Meshing the estate planning documents, and beneficiary designations, is part art, part science. Join us as we discuss the general guidelines, and common mistakes, in beneficiary designations.