Week 49 Day 3: Beneficiary Designations: The Override Nobody Checks

Your 401(k), IRA, life insurance, and bank accounts pass to whoever is named on the beneficiary form -- regardless of what your will or trust says. If you named your ex-spouse on your 401(k) in 2005 and never updated it, your ex gets the money when you die, even if your will says otherwise. Beneficiary designations are