How Beneficiary Designations Can Undo Your Estate Plan: A few years ago, the book “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning” was widely praised for simplifying the process of managing personal possessions after a person’s death. Having a properly prepared estate plan can achieve the same result. However, only if you are meticulous about the details. A recent article, “Leaving money to those you choose: Here’s what can override your wishes even if you have a will,” from CNN explains how your will can be undone.
People need to be mindful of the importance of naming beneficiaries on important financial accounts, such as 401(k) plans, IRAs, life insurance policies, annuities and possibly even brokerage and bank accounts.
Anyone named as a beneficiary on these accounts is the person who will receive the assets, no matter what is in your Revocable Trust or any other estate planning documents.
Having a beneficiary designation is a good thing for several reasons. Assets are transferred faster to beneficiaries because any asset with a beneficiary designation is not part of your probate estate. There is no court involvement with the distribution, and in most cases, a death certificate and proof of identification are enough to have the proceeds distributed to the beneficiary.
If assets are subject to probate, they are not distributed to heirs until the court has approved the will and all debts and expenses have been paid. Probate can be a costly and time-consuming process, with delays that can take months or, in some cases, years.
How Beneficiary Designations Can Undo Your Estate Plan: It is important to coordinate the beneficiary designations with the rest of your estate plan since these assets may be a major part of your estate. Other forms of property interests pass automatically at death by virtue of contractual or deed provisions, such as property held in “joint tenancy with right of survivorship.” If a substantial part of an estate is owned in this fashion, the tax planning that went into a Will or trust arrangement may be defeated. At the time your new Wills and Trusts are signed, or shortly afterwards, all of these types of property interests should be coordinated with the new estate plan. Read more on beneficiary mistakes in our blog, Beneficiary Mistakes to Avoid
Reference: CNN (September 23, 2025) “Leaving money to those you choose: Here’s what can override your wishes even if you have a will”