Your 401(k) Beneficiary Probably Overrides Your Will. Here Is Why That Matters.

How beneficiary designations work.

When you set up a 401(k), IRA, or life insurance policy, you named a beneficiary. That designation is a contract. It says who gets the money when you pass.

Here is the important part: that designation overrides your will. If your will says everything goes to your children, but your 401(k) still names your ex-spouse, the ex-spouse gets the 401(k). The will does not matter.

The five accounts to check.

1. Your 401(k) and any workplace retirement plans.

2. Your IRA or Roth IRA.

3. Your life insurance policies.

4. Your annuities.

5. Any bank or brokerage accounts with payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designations.

The most common mistake.

You set up the account years ago. You named your spouse. Then you got divorced and remarried. You updated your will, but you never changed the beneficiary on the old 401(k).

This happens more often than you would think. And the consequences can be devastating for the family you intended to protect.

How to audit your designations in an afternoon.

Call each account provider and ask who is listed as the primary and contingent beneficiary. Write it down. Compare it to your will and your wishes. If anything does not match, update it.

Or upload your documents to Succession Plan. We flag conflicts between your designations and your plan automatically.