When you are talking to your attorney about your estate, there are some things that you may or may not want. For example, you might want to set up a trust, but you may not want to set up guardianship for minors if you don’t have children.
Part of working with the right attorney is so they can help you weed out each section of an estate plan that you don’t need as well as to help you understand what you do want to include.
When you’re going through this process, there are some errors to avoid. One of the biggest is having outdated beneficiary designations. Here’s a little more on what you need to know about your beneficiaries and when to address changes.
1. You assign beneficiaries in your will, trust or other legal documents
Beneficiaries aren’t just assigned in one place. That’s why changes are important to discuss with your attorney. They will be able to help you update all the legal documents pertaining to a specific beneficiary.
2. Updating your beneficiaries is easy and doesn’t have to happen frequently
To update your beneficiaries, it only takes a short visit to your attorney’s office. You don’t have to update them frequently, but you should consider updating your beneficiaries if you go through major life changes, like a divorce or marriage.
3. Without updating beneficiaries, the wrong people could receive your assets
What you intend and what happens could be two different things if you don’t update your beneficiaries. Take the time to do so, so you can be confident that your preferred beneficiaries will receive the correct inheritances.
These are a few things to think about when assigning beneficiaries and updating your designations. Your attorney can help if you have updates to address.