Getting your affairs in order, on the insurance side
Your will, trust and beneficiary forms should all point the same way. We handle the insurance and annuity side of that: reviewing who you have named, and making sure policies match the plan your attorney designs. We are not a law firm.
What we do, and what we don't
What we do
- Review beneficiary designations on your life insurance and annuities.
- Help you fill out the insurer's forms to change owners or beneficiaries.
- Set up or adjust life insurance to fund a trust, following your attorney's instructions.
- Make a list of your policies and contracts so your family knows what exists.
- Share information with your attorney, with your permission.
What we don't do
- Draft wills, trusts, powers of attorney or any legal document.
- Sell trust packages or document kits.
- Give legal or tax advice, or tell you which kind of trust to use.
- Give Medicaid planning advice. Ask an elder law attorney.
- Pay or accept referral fees from attorneys.
Beneficiary reviews
A beneficiary designation is the form that tells an insurer, or a retirement account custodian, who receives the money when you die. For those accounts, that form generally controls who is paid, even if your will says something different. That is why an out-of-date form can undo a careful plan.
In a review, we go through each policy and contract with you and look for common problems:
- An ex-spouse or someone who has died still named as beneficiary.
- No contingent beneficiary. A contingent beneficiary is the backup, paid if the primary beneficiary dies first.
- A minor child named directly. Insurers generally cannot pay a large sum straight to a child. Ask your attorney how to handle this, for example through a trust or a custodian.
- Your estate named as beneficiary. This can send the money through probate, the court process for settling an estate. Ask your attorney whether that is what you want.
- A designation that doesn't match your trust or will. We point out mismatches. Your attorney decides how to fix them.
- Someone who receives government benefits named directly. An inheritance can affect their eligibility. This is a question for your attorney.
We give you a written summary of what we found and what we changed, so you and your attorney have the same picture.
Free checklists
No email required. Download and print them.
Life insurance and trusts
A trust is a legal arrangement in which one person, the trustee, manages money or property for others. Your attorney decides whether you need one, what kind, and what it says. Some people use life insurance to put money into a trust when they die, for example to provide for children over time.
Once your attorney has designed the trust, our part is the insurance:
- Applying for a policy with the trust as owner or beneficiary, exactly as your attorney instructs.
- Completing the insurer's paperwork to change the owner or beneficiary of an existing policy.
- Making sure the policy's details, such as names and dates, match the trust documents.
Moving an existing policy into a trust can have tax and legal effects. Your attorney, and a tax professional where needed, should review that decision before we file any forms.
Working alongside your attorney
We work alongside your attorney. If you already have one, we will coordinate with them, with your permission. If you don't, we suggest you find an estate planning attorney licensed in your state. We do not pay or receive referral fees.
A typical order of steps:
- We list your policies, annuities and current beneficiaries.
- You meet with your attorney, who designs your will or trust.
- Your attorney tells us how the policies should be owned and who should be named.
- We complete the insurer forms and send you and your attorney confirmation once each insurer processes them.
Questions to bring to your attorney
- Do my beneficiary designations match my will or trust?
- How should money be left to my minor children?
- Should my life insurance be owned by me or by a trust?
- Is anyone I want to provide for receiving government benefits that an inheritance could affect?
- What happens if a beneficiary dies before I do?
Questions are free.
Book a 20-minute conversation, or send us a question by email. No cost, no obligation, and we never sell your information.