Dear Readers, I have recently redone my will.
We should all redo or review this whenever a family event happens, or a considerable amount has passed since the last review. As I finished, sign, and had papers witnessed, my attorney handed me a to-do list. The first item on it was “check that beneficiaries are correct on all transferrable assets”.
I thought this was a bit overkill, but complied. Imagine my shock when I discovered that a stranger’s name was listed as a beneficiary on my brokerage account! Coincidently my broker was on vacation. After a flurry of phone calls, considerable paper shuffling, and his return to town all was corrected. The mistake was a software glitch accompanied by a user error, probably a one-time event. Even so, the brokerage firm verified that all other accounts in house had the correct names on their beneficiary records. It was a lot of work for all of us.
During the process, I kept imagining what would happen if I died before a correction was filed? So please, double check that all beneficiary accounts have the correct names on them. Keep a photocopy of all the papers you sign. An ounce of prevention is priceless.
Happy paper shuffling!
