This Week's Topic: Mistakes To Avoid

Slip-ups can cost your heirs dearly. For example, many assets are not covered under your will such as IRAs, life insurance and annuities and some types of bank accounts. Although they may not be subject to probate, those assets will be counted as part of your taxable estate. However, changed circumstances may leave those assets listed with beneficiaries that may have predeceased you or who you do not want to share in your estate when you die. Review your beneficiary designations often and update them as necessary.

You can easily take care of predeceased beneficiaries by naming a secondary beneficiary or even a third contingent beneficiary.

Also, a divorced person may forget to change the beneficiary from her or his spouse which can create conflicts and possible lawsuits after the owner dies. Again, an annual review of your legal matters will correct any deficiencies.

Some clients forget to name their trusts when they acquire assets, even though they initially did so when they established their trust, thus resulting in an unnecessary probate. Look at your brokerage and bank statements and property tax bills to be sure your trust is named as owner. Sometimes those organizations make mistakes and you need to catch them and correct the errors before your death.

Where is your will located? You should be sure that someone knows where it is and that if it is a locked box that the key is available. Your trusted CPA and/or Attorney should be listed for consultation and administration of your estate.

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