Beneficiary designations mostly come in three flavors: Primary, contingent and default. Naming an individual to act in each of these capacities effectively serves as a series of fail-safes whereby ...

Using Form VSA 18 Beneficiary Transaction Request, you can designate one beneficiary to own your vehicle – be it a car, motorcycle, or other registered transportation – after you die.

A beneficiary designation form is a weighty estate-planning mechanism, and its completion should be treated with the same degree of care and attention as is given to preparation of wills and trust ...

For example, you can name a beneficiary on a brokerage account. The beneficiary designation is referred to as transfer on death (TOD) rather than payable on death, but the effect is essentially ...

If you have an individual retirement account, do you recall filling out a beneficiary designation form? That’s the document that allows you to direct the IRA custodian to transfer your IRA to ...

If you don't have a copy of the latest beneficiary designation form, write down the primary beneficiary, contingent beneficiary, and the date the beneficiary designation was last updated for each ...

I can give a few examples where failing to keep, preserve and let your beneficiaries know where beneficiary designations are located can go wrong.

Julie Jason: No beneficiary designation for an IRA? Here's what can happen. It might be a good idea to take a look at the custodian's agreement.