Hi there,

Last week, a colleague told me about a case that still haunts her.

A father passed away with a clear, professionally drafted will. It stated that his entire estate should go to his three adult children equally.

But there was one problem: his 401(k) — worth over $400,000 — still listed his ex-wife as the beneficiary.

They'd been divorced for 15 years.

The ex-wife got the entire retirement account. Legally, there was nothing the children could do. The beneficiary designation on the account trumped everything in the will.

This isn't a rare edge case. It's actually one of the most common — and expensive — estate planning mistakes I see.

Here's the rule that catches most families off guard:

Beneficiary designations OVERRIDE your will.

It doesn't matter what your carefully drafted estate plan says. When it comes to:

• 401(k)s and IRAs
• Life insurance policies
• Bank accounts with "payable on death" designations
• Brokerage accounts with "transfer on death" designations

The person named on the beneficiary form gets the money. Period.

Your will has zero say in the matter.

Take 15 minutes this week and review the beneficiary designations on:

For each account, ask yourself:

→ Is this person still who I want to receive this money?
→ Have there been any major life changes (divorce, death, estrangement) since I named them?
→ Does this match what my will says?

If any answers give you pause, it's time to update the form.

Most of these can be changed with a simple form from your HR department, financial institution, or insurance company. It takes 10 minutes but could save your family hundreds of thousands of dollars — and years of heartache.

A special note for blended families

This issue gets even more complicated if you've remarried or have children from multiple relationships. I've seen cases where:

• A new spouse was accidentally excluded from retirement accounts
• Stepchildren were included (or excluded) unintentionally
• Outdated beneficiaries created family conflicts that took years to resolve

If your family structure has changed since you set up these accounts, please — check your beneficiary forms this week.

Need help sorting through this?

Just reply to this email. I'm happy to point you in the right direction, whether that's a simple form update or a more comprehensive review of how your beneficiary designations fit into your overall estate plan.

To protecting what matters most,

Zach Hunsinger
Hunsinger Law Group, LLC
St. Louis & Chicago