There is no better time than a beginning of a new year to renew your beneficiary designations for your various assets to make sure that they are in order and are in the names you prefer. Significant time may have passed since you last reviewed that you have made proper payable on death (“POD”) designations for things like your life insurance policies, annuities, brokerage accounts or other assets that may or may not require that you designate a POD beneficiary. Designating a payable on death beneficiary for various accounts is a more direct way to pass assets to loved ones upon your death, avoids the probate process for such POD accounts, provides immediate liquidity as a part of a business buy-sell or for other liquidity needs, provides privacy of transfer of assets, and sometimes provides tax benefits to the beneficiaries. Besides renaming beneficiary designations, it may also be a great time to see an estate planning attorney to review your complete estate plan, including your wills, trusts, and powers of attorney.

The attorneys at Thomas Law Group take a holistic approach to estate planning and work with you to evaluate every aspect of your assets to plan for the future. Please contact Attorney Cheryl DeVore or Attorney Nikki Mesnard to discuss your estate planning needs.