You MUST Coordinate Asset Ownership Or Beneficiary Designations Documents With Your Wills and Trusts

"Think your estate planning is done once you've gone to the touble of making a will? Think again. All your hard work can be undone with a stroke of a pen when you open a bank, brokerage or retirement account," writes Carolyn T. Geer of the Wall Street Journal. She is absolutely right. At Hughes Estate Group, we strongly encourage clients to coordinate ownership and beneficiary documents with estate planning documents.

Ms. Geer continues, "Increasingly, investors have the option of naming beneficiaries directly on a wide range of financial products. The appeal: When the account owner dies, the assets go directly to the beneficiaries named on the accounts, bypassing the sometimes long and costly probate process. The problem: Because these beneficiary designations override your will, they need to be carefully coordinated with your overall estate plan." Most people do not realize that creating a will or trust is only one step in completing and maintaining an estate plan. A vital step is ensuring each asset's ownership or beneficiary document does not undermine the will or trust.

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