A beneficiary designation is a document — usually a simple form — that tells a financial institution or insurance company who should receive a specific asset upon your death.

Properly designating beneficiaries for assets that transfer on death is one of the simplest, and most commonly overlooked, methods to maximize the efficiency of a client’s estate plan. As a recent ...

IF YOU HAVE an individual retirement account, do you recall filling out a beneficiary designation form? That’s the document that allows you to direct the IRA custodian to transfer your IRA to people ...

An often-neglected area in the world of benefit plan administration is the beneficiary designation form. Many participants complete their beneficiary designations incorrectly because they don’t read ...

When you think about estate planning, most people think about getting their wills and trusts in order. For many, their IRA’s or 401(k) will control the distribution of assets. In the video above, ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Christine Fletcher writes about managing trusts and estates. This article is more than 6 years old. Beneficiary designations are a ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Bob Carlson researches all facets of retirement finances. Beneficiary designations are one of the major gaps in many retirement ...

Beneficiary forms trump last wills and testaments in court, so those with assets to pass on to heirs should regularly update them. Errors on the part of plan administrators can creep in when, for ...

A former wife named as primary beneficiary on her former husband’s life insurance policy asserts a claim for benefits under the policy. Following their divorce, the insured former husband never ...

An employer’s retirement plan documents did not incorporate beneficiary designation forms in its language or appendices, so the forms did not govern the award of benefits, a court ruled. A federal ...

If you have an individual retirement account, do you recall filling out a beneficiary designation form? That’s the document that allows you to direct the IRA custodian to transfer your IRA to people ...