WHAT IS A BENEFICIARY?
Ownership of certain assets such as bank accounts, investment accounts and life insurance death benefits can be transferred upon death without going through probate (the legal process of administering an estate).
This new owner is the beneficiary. The beneficiary can be a person or an organization such as a charity.
Transfer of assets by designating a beneficiary is much quicker and less costly than probate.
HOW TO DESIGNATE A BENEFICIARY
A beneficiary needs to be designated for every non-probate asset. Most financial institutions make it possible to update your beneficiary designation (sometimes called "Transfer on Death" or TOD) online, or to request a beneficiary designation form online.
We have partnered with FreeWill to provide you with a resource for a range of estate planning tasks. FreeWill's beneficiary tracking tool will help you organize your beneficiary designation information and create a record which you can keep with your will and other important records.
Click here to use the FreeWill beneficiary tracking tool.