An Overall Plan is Worth the Professional Fees. 

Internet and box wills are being advertised a lot lately. In a way this is good because it encourages people to start planning. However, an internet will won’t be an effective estate plan for most people. One reason in particular is that a will doesn’t control property subject to beneficiary designation or right of survivorship.

Many people are surprised to learn that their will controls a relatively small percentage of their overall estate. Life insurance and retirement plans are controlled by beneficiary designations, not a will. Many bank accounts are also controlled by designations outside the will. For many people, these assets equal a large portion of their overall estate.

For example, many married couples have a will that includes trust planning--either for estate tax savings, asset protection or to ensure the children aren’t disinherited if a surviving spouse remarries. If the primary beneficiary of the life insurance is the spouse, this completely contradicts the trust planning. No money from the life insurance will be able to be funded into the trust.

A surprising number of people with minor children name the children as contingent beneficiaries. BAD IDEA! This form of designation would necessitate a court-supervised, expensive, burdensome guardianship to control the proceeds if the couple dies together.

Proper estate planning will coordinate your will with the beneficiary designation forms for your life insurance policies, retirement plans, and bank and brokerage accounts.