Spinoff of a Tax Talk thread

[happyscooter]

So I had posted about being sent a form saying we had taken out DH's pension when really it had been rolled over. Today we received a 5498 form for our taxes. At the bottom it lists me as a 100% beneficiary and it overrides what our will states. Are there any other documents that would trump a legal will?

[Deleted]

joint ownership in savings or brokerage accounts.

[TrixAre4Kids]

beneficiary forms

[happyscooter]

Actually I am his beneficiary and he is mine. I just find it odd that if you have a will made out that a pension paper would override it.

[happyscooter]

Dang. What's the point of a will then?

[happyscooter]

Don't all of you men out there wish you were married to me and would get asked these questions at some of the most inopportune times?

[happyscooter]

Thanks.

[MN-Investor]

Instead of having a joint account, you can have a Payable on Death. That keeps things like bank accounts out of a will. Also Transfer on Death. That can keep real estate out of a will. Then there's always a revocable trust. You can put everything else in there.

[happyscooter]

NOW I have to go look through our papers to see what I have.

[mwcpa]

"Dang. What's the point of a will then?"

Do you have children? if so, the Will can designate who will "take care" of them in the event that you and your spouse pass... if not State law will decide for you and you may not like the results
Do you have asset that are not "joint"... then you can designate who gets them... if not State law will decide for you...
Will your estate be "taxable"... then you need assets in your name only to take advantage of the tax laws...
Do you want assets to not go to your spouse... no Will, then state law will decide for you....
There are more reasons...

[Deleted]

I am going through this now, as most accounts have either joint ownership or beneficiaries. It is a maze of trying to figure out what accounts exist and who is the listed beneficiary. The assets covered only by the will were by far the easy part.


ETA: I also looked up state law concerning how assets are divided in case of death in my state when there wasn't a will for a class I was taking. That motivated me to fix my beneficiaries and get a will.

[boosmom]

So, for joint accounts, if one joint owner dies, the remaining owner becomes the sole owner, right? And the designated beneficiaries are for when the remaining owner dies or if both die at the same time, right?

Many states automatically make the spouse the beneficiary of a 401K and that the spouse has to sign a form acknowledging they have not been made the beneficiary. Plus, the 401K would then not be part of the estate if it passes to an individual beneficiary.

[Deleted]

Jan 28, 2011 13:02:00 GMT -5 @boosmom said:

?
Many states automatically make the spouse the beneficiary of a 401K and that the spouse has to sign a form acknowledging they have not been made the beneficiary. Plus, the 401K would then not be part of the estate if it passes to an individual beneficiary.

This is true in my state. The example given in my finance class, and who knows how accurate it was, involved old 401k's from before the couple married. DH and I both had old accounts with outdated beneficiaries. It was easy to just fix things.

[mwcpa]

generally for a "qualified" pension plan to not pass to the surviving spouse, he or she must sign and acknowledgment that is given to the plan administrator indicating such....

[boosmom]

Jan 28, 2011 13:47:22 GMT -5 mwcpa said:

generally for a "qualified" pension plan to not pass to the surviving spouse, he or she must sign and acknowledgment that is given to the plan administrator indicating such....

So, if someone failed to notify the plan administrator that they got married, wouldn't the plan still have to pass it to the surviving spouse upon notification of the spouse's existence and owner's death, even if there was a previous beneficiary designation (made pre-marriage), since the marriage overrides the last designation form?

[chemnerd99]

nope. The example my 401K plan administration was that the benificinary listed gets it. The ex-wife of a worker got his 401K and pension and she would send a post card from her trips to the new wife and say sucker.

[boosmom]

Well, good thing for DH that I updated my beneficiary designation then!


Hmmm, I should double check on his. I'm pretty sure I am, but better to be safe.

[DVM gone riding]

this is probably one of those varies a lot by state things. But in general when you get married all life insurance, 401k, and IRA accts should be updated with new beneficiaries-you get this money then no matter what, minus some taxes maybe but it can't be taken to pay for the upside down house.

Will's dispose of everything else and are required to designate guardians of minor children-only way you can-esp if you don't want your parents raising said children as that is what the state will most likely default to.

For example: I have a house that is in my name only that if I get married I don't intend to add husband to-bec we are a community property state-but if I were to die I would want him to have it, I need a will to give it to him, right now my parents get everything but are required to care for my animals until their natural deaths.