The assets held in accounts with beneficiary designations (bank accounts, investment accounts, IRAs, etc.) should pass easily to the designated beneficiary upon the owner’s death. However, issues can arise when a beneficiary is not properly designated.


The policies and procedures for designating beneficiaries may differ from company to company, especially when designating a trust as a beneficiary. For example, listing the name or title of a trust may be sufficient for some companies, but other companies may require more information such as:
– The title of the trust;
– Title of the instrument creating the trust; and
– Date of the instrument creating the trust.


Take the time to familiarize yourself with the policies and procedures of your financial institutions and investment companies then review your current beneficiary designations and revise them as needed.


If you need help with beneficiary designations or estate planning in general, please call to schedule an appointment with one of the attorneys at Waldron & Schneider.


The legal information in this blog entry is not intended to be a substitute for seeking personalized legal advice from an attorney licensed to practice in your jurisdiction. Further, nothing contained in this article is intended to create an attorney-client relationship with any reader. This article and website are made available by Waldron & Schneider for educational purposes only and to give basic information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide specific legal advice. By using this website you understand that there is no attorney client relationship between you and Waldron & Schneider. The article and website should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state. For more information or questions you can contact us and one of our attorneys will be in touch soon.