Can Beneficiary Designations Help Simplify the Estate Planning Process?

Asset Protection, Estate Planning, Life Insurance, Probate, Trusts, Wills / Annuity, Asset Protection, Beneficiary Designations, Estate Planning Lawyer, Inheritance, Life Insurance, Probate Court, St. Petersburg, Trusts, Wills

Often overlooked, the beneficiary designation can be one of the easiest ways to move assets directly to heirs without going through the probate process.

Many accounts and financial products will allow you to designate a beneficiary. The beneficiary is the person who will receive the asset directly when the owner passes away. This is something that most of us encounter when we open a bank account, purchase an insurance policy or start a retirement savings plan, according to the article, “A simple way to simplify estate planning,” appearing in the Tupelo (MS) Daily Journal.

The type of assets that allow beneficiary designations also include annuities, transfer-on-death investment accounts, pay-on-death bank accounts, stock options and executive deferred compensation plans.

Remembering who the beneficiary is on these accounts can be difficult. However, when you consider the consequences of having the incorrect person named on the asset, it’s well worth the effort. Due to the importance of the beneficiary designation, note these reminders:

Designate beneficiaries. Without this, assets can be tied up in probate court, resulting in delays, costs and unfavorable tax treatment.
List a primary and contingent beneficiary. It is common to have a spouse as primary beneficiary, and a child as contingent, which lets the asset pass to the child if the spouse has also passed away. You can also name a charity you support to be the contingent.
Keep things up-to-date. Any time there’s a birth, adoption, death, marriage or divorce, you should review your accounts and polices.
Go through the instructions on the form before signing it. Beneficiary forms can vary, so review each one.
Coordinate your beneficiary designations with your will or trust documents. If they don’t, it could cause the probate process to be delayed.
Work with an estate planning attorney before naming a trust as a beneficiary. Tax consequences may be different for a trust than for an individual, so some situations make a trust a wise option.
Know the tax consequences of naming a beneficiary of a particular asset. That’s because every asset does not have the same tax treatment.

Far too many people learn the hard way, that whatever is on the beneficiary designation determines who receives the asset, no matter what is in your will. Make a list of all of assets that have a beneficiary designation and review it when you review your estate plan. If you don’t have a contingency beneficiary, add that as well. Your estate planning attorney will be able to help you if you run into any questions and to ensure that your beneficiary designations align with your overall estate planning goals.

Reference: Tupelo Daily Journal (November 2, 2018) “A simple way to simplify estate planning”

Will Your Heirs Receive What You Wanted, Or Will There Be a Family Battle?

Asset Protection, Estate Planning, Executor, Probate, Wills / 401(k), Annuity, Beneficiary Designations, Capacity, Conservatorship, Disability, Estate Planning Lawyer, Guardianship, Inheritance, IRA, Life Insurance, Pension, Trustee, Trusts, Wills

To be certain the heirs you intend inherit the assets you intend, remember these points

One of the reasons that people do estate planning, is to make sure that their assets go to the people they want. However, when things change, and estate plans aren’t updated, it doesn’t always work out.

If you are like most people, most of your assets are in retirement accounts, annuities, life insurance policies and pensions, says MD Magazine in its recent article, “Making Sure Your Heirs Get What You Intend.” These accounts require that a beneficiary be named, and those assets go directly to the beneficiary on the death of the owner.

It’s not uncommon after a few years, for a person to forget which beneficiaries they specified for a life insurance policy or pension. Perhaps it’s a first spouse and they’ve now remarried. There’s no “do-over” after you’re gone, which can lead to considerable confusion and stress. It will also ultimately disappoint your intended heirs. In addition, based on whether and how some other assets are designated in estate planning documents, some states may send the matter to probate. This can be a long and expensive process, since if the estate plan was done right in the first place, it wouldn’t be needed.

To be certain the heirs you intend inherit the assets you intend, remember these points:

Keep track of the beneficiaries you’ve designated for your accounts. If you don’t recall, check with these institutions.
Don’t rely on cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all estate planning products. Get a custom plan from an experienced estate planning attorney, even though it may cost a little bit more money.
Regularly review the beneficiary designations on your financial accounts and those in your will, to be sure they’re in sync and current.

Some people think they are required to create a trust for estate planning, when a well-drafted will and clear beneficiary designations will suffice. Talk to your attorney to determine if a trust is a good idea for your specific situation. The primary reason in some cases to have a trust is potential incapacitation. Therefore, a trust can empower heirs to manage your estate without first going to court to get a conservatorship, which can be time-consuming and costly.

A trust can also be way to manage your estate “from the grave.” A trustee is appointed to assure that assets are distributed according to specified instructions. This can be a good way to make sure heirs with dependency issues don’t burn through their inheritance quickly or spend it on the wrong things. Trusts can also be a smart way to ensure the care of a disabled relative.

A qualified estate planning attorney will help you create an estate plan, which should include a thorough evaluation of all of your assets and updating your beneficiary designations.

Reference: MD Magazine(July 25, 2018)“Making Sure Your Heirs Get What You Intend”

Proper Planning for the Distribution of an IRA

Asset Protection, Estate Planning, IRA, Retirement Planning / Annuity, Asset Protection, Beneficiary Designations, Estate Planning Attorney, Inheritance, Inherited IRA, Life Insurance, Retirement Accounts, Transfer on Death

Understand the rules, so the money goes where you want it to.

The rules for IRA distributions can be complicated. Unforeseen circumstances can make things even more complex. Understand the rules, so the money goes where you want it to.

What happens if you designate each of your two adult children as 50/50 beneficiaries of your IRA, and then one of them dies? Will the funds go to your grandchildren?

MarketWatchanswered that question in its article, “Who gets your IRA when you die? It’s not so simple.”The answer to what happens to the IRA money is dependent upon what the beneficiary designations say and when one of the children passes away. The beneficiary designations state how it will be distributed. However, that may not be what is written in your will.

If the children are alive when the IRA owner dies, and she simply named them 50/50 outright beneficiaries, they will each get half the funds. Each child could do whatever they wanted, including placing the funds in an inherited IRA account and naming their choice of beneficiaries.

However, if either child dies before the parent with the IRA passes away, and she doesn’t update the beneficiary designation before she dies, there are two common default arrangements built into account forms for IRAs, retirement accounts, life insurance policies, annuity contracts, and “transfer on death” arrangements available in some states. One is per capita: if one child is dead at the time of the parent’s death and is still listed as a 50% beneficiary, then 100% of this share will go to the surviving child.

The other common arrangement is per stirpes—Latin for “by the root.” Here, rather than the predeceasing child’s share going to their surviving sibling, the share goes to the deceased beneficiary’s children.

Be sure to obtain a copy of what you filed for your beneficiary designations. You should carefully review the language to be certain that it meshes with your wishes. If you want your assets to flow differently, speak with an estate planning attorney about drafting a custom beneficiary designation. Some people don’t want one of their beneficiaries to inherit outright and have free reign with the funds. An attorney can help protect that person and the money.

If you want to have people who are not “linear” decedents be beneficiaries, such as family friends or spouses of children, you’ll need to sit down with an estate planning attorney to make sure that the legal documents are correctly drafted. You may decide to use a custom beneficiary designation or trusts to achieve this.

Reference: MarketWatch(March 17, 2018) “Who gets your IRA when you die? It’s not so simple”

Insurance Agent Ordered to Give Back $1 Million from Client Policies

Asset Protection, Elder Care, Elder Law, Estate Planning, Probate, Wills / Annuity, Beneficiary Designations, Capacity, Elder Abuse, Elder Care, elder law, Estate Planning Lawyer, Inheritance, Life Insurance, Power of Attorney, Probate Court, Undue Influence, Will Contest

An administrative law judge said that Blanche Berenzweig should return the $1 million she collected from a deceased client’s estate.

An administrative law judge said that Blanche Berenzweig should return the $1 million she collected from a deceased client’s estate. The heirs of a reclusive man have objected to the will, claiming that she pressured their uncle.

This fall, a trial will be held to determine who LeRoy Ern’s real heirs are, as ordered by Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Marshall Murray. With an estate worth $1.6 million, the reclusive man, who died at 92 of advanced dementia, left his entire estate to a retired insurance agent. His will was drafted by an attorney that shared an office with the insurance agent.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article, “Insurance agent should give up $1 million received from client's policies, judge recommends,” reports that 11 of Ern's 12 nieces and nephews objected to the will that was drafted in 2009. They said Berenzweig improperly pressured their reclusive uncle.

Ern also gave her power of attorney over his financial and health affairs, if he became incapacitated.

Rachel Pings, an administrative law judge, wrote a proposed order that was filed in the Circuit Court probate case. She says Berenzweig put herself in a position to entirely manage his money and exploited Ern's trust and isolation by knowingly being named as the beneficiary of his annuities, when she had no insurable interest in his life.

"She profited illegally by more than $1 million," Pings wrote.

The order now goes to state Insurance Commissioner who will decide whether to uphold the recommendations that Berenzweig return the annuity proceeds, permanently revoke her insurance license and fine her $3,000. The annuity proceeds are frozen.

Pings' decision says the fact that Berenzweig served as Ern's agent, beneficiary, and power of attorney posed obvious conflicts.

Ern was never close to his nieces and nephews. The relationships grew more distant as his siblings died. He met Berenzweig in 1993, when she helped him purchase an annuity. They became reacquainted in 2008, when Ern was having a problem with that policy.

A friendship developed, and Berenzweig said she vehemently objected to Ern making her the beneficiary of the annuities and the estate but that her client was insistent.

Pings noted in her opinion that insurance regulators consider Berenzweig "an unethical insurance agent who took advantage of her position of trust with a lonely old man, so she could benefit from his sizable estate when he died."

Berenzweig’s attorney argues that she did not violate any laws or rules, but that some of the problems she is facing could have been avoided. The entire will, which named Berenzweig the sole beneficiary, is being challenged.

Reference: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (March 12, 2018) “Insurance agent should give up $1 million received from client's policies, judge recommends”

Can Beneficiary Designations Help Simplify the Estate Planning Process?

Will Your Heirs Receive What You Wanted, Or Will There Be a Family Battle?

Proper Planning for the Distribution of an IRA

Insurance Agent Ordered to Give Back $1 Million from Client Policies

We'd Love to Talk With You!

Mastry Law, P.A.

Route

Contact Us