This Week's Topic: Asset Transfers Without a Will

It has been estimated that over one-half of all Americans do not have a will to be sure their assets end up where they want them to. A large part of the reason for this, in my opinion, is that people know that their IRA (or any other retirement plan), their life insurance, annuities and joint tenancy assets pass to named beneficiaries outside of an formal process and will not need to go through the probate process unless the named successor has predeceased the asset owner. These same people then forget that their home non-IRA investments and bank accounts may need to be probated at death to allow the beneficiaries to obtain clear title to the particular asset.

Some people make the mistake of naming their