The Importance of Beneficiary Designations
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Married couples often have wills naming one another as their primary beneficiary. People also often name their spouse as beneficiary of retirement accounts and life insurance policies. Upon commencing a divorce action,...more
As a bit of background, there is a distinction between probate assets and non-probate assets. Probate assets are distributed according to your will during a probate administration whereas non-probate assets are distributed...more
A new Minnesota law comes into effect on August 1, 2024, which flags the importance of addressing insurance coverage within your estate plan, especially if your plan utilizes transfer on death deeds. A transfer on death deed...more
During the divorce process, one often overlooked area is updating your estate plan. Divorce can impact beneficiary designations on life insurance policies, retirement accounts, and other assets and can also have tax...more
A plan administrator did not abuse its discretion in concluding that a former employee’s surviving spouse was not entitled to life insurance benefits under an employee benefit plan. In Hayes v. Prudential Insurance Company of...more
Perhaps you drafted your will years ago and it references many of your existing assets, including retirement plan accounts and life insurance policies. But you also have paperwork on file with the applicable financial...more
Your will is the foundation of your estate plan. Notably, it provides for the disposition of your worldly possessions, including your house, investments and other property. These go to the beneficiaries named in your will. In...more
If your life changes, so should your estate plan. Marriage, divorce, death of a spouse, a birth and a changing relationship with a child are just some of the life changes that may affect your estate plan. Unfortunately, as...more
Financial institutions and brokerage firms occasionally recommend that client accounts be structured as joint or beneficiary-designated accounts without full consideration of the impact on the client’s estate plan....more
As Tiffany mentioned in her introductory post, during the next few months, we will be dissecting important issues presented in our fact pattern involving the Smith and Alexander families....more
Presented by Cohen Seglias associate Whitney Patience O'Reilly on October 22, 2020. An often overlooked but important aspect of estate planning is the designation of beneficiaries—both primary and contingent—on life...more
An often overlooked but important aspect of estate planning is the designation of beneficiaries—both primary and contingent—on life insurance policies and retirement accounts. In this webinar, Whitney O’Reilly, a seasoned...more
Split Dollar Life Insurance, a beautiful tax shelter in every sense of the word. This episode highlights some of the magic that still exists in Split Dollar Life Insurance. Why tax planners and their clients need to...more
The TV series The Wonder Years is one of my favorite TV series. The series depicts the social and family life of a boy, Kevin Arnold, in a typical American suburban middle-class family from 1968 to 1973, covering the ages of...more
...If you make a mistake in naming beneficiaries for your life insurance policy, you could hurt the very people you're trying to protect. These mistakes can hurt you and your loved ones no matter where you live in the United...more
The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act was made a part of the appropriations bill late in 2019 and was signed into law on December 20, 2019....more
It’s advisable to review and update your estate plan with any change in personal circumstances, financial circumstances, changes in the law, or just the passage of an extended time. But if you’re in the midst of a divorce, or...more
So, you’ve signed your estate planning documents. Nice work. But don’t forget that just having a Will and Trust is not enough. How you own your assets is an essential part of the equation, and should be reviewed to ensure...more
In a youth-focused society, it is difficult to contemplate aging, let alone dying. Many young people assume, incorrectly, that estate planning is just for the elderly or the very wealthy. There are four reasons why everyone -...more
Why do estate planning documents need to be updated when a couple is getting divorced? This simple story illustrates one of the key reasons. An Arizona couple had been married for several years and during their marriage had...more
Most plan administrators are familiar with a qualified domestic relations order or “QDRO,” which is used to split retirement plan benefits between a plan participant and an alternate payee, such as an ex-spouse or minor...more
When a man dies in California, who gets the proceeds of his life insurance policy? The answer seems obvious: the named beneficiaries in the paperwork received and accepted by the life insurance company....more
Divorce attorneys saw a wave of divorces last year due to the changes in the tax laws that took effect on January 1, 2019. If you were one of the masses whose divorce was finalized in 2018, now is the time to revise your...more
Estate planning for families who have children with special needs is similar to general family estate planning. The key, however, is to make sure that any funds or other assets put aside for a child or adult who is receiving,...more
An estate planning rule of thumb is to review (and, if necessary, revise) one’s estate plan in light of major life events. Such events include a marriage, birth of a child and a divorce. A second marriage also calls for an...more