How Important is a Beneficiary Designation?

When you start a new job, often there are fringe benefits, such as life insurance or a matched retirement account that your employer offers. And as we all know, those first few days at a new job are full of filling out paperwork and learning new procedures. But, one of the biggest mistakes you can make while filling out that paperwork is failing to name beneficiaries of any life insurance or retirement accounts.

If you were to pass away, either with a will or without a will, and you didn’t name a beneficiary on your life insurance or retirement account, your surviving family members are going to be in for a frustrating and expensive process to get access the life insurance and retirement funds. For instance, often times, if you are divorced and have minor children, then your surviving ex-spouse will have to get status as legal guardian and conservator of your minor children, just to get the life insurance proceeds to benefit your kids – and if you have a sizeable retirement account, your surviving family may have to open an expensive, time-consuming, public probate to get your retirement funds.

With all of that being said, remember to name a beneficiary on your life insurance and retirement accounts. It will save your loved ones from having to spend time and money to get the funds you intended for them anyway during a time they are grieving your loss. But if you find yourself in this situation, the attorneys at Goosmann Law are ready to guide you down the right path and help you get through this process as smoothly as possible, so that you can focus on what’s WORTH IT!