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Ownership of Assets and Beneficiary Designations on Assets Must Be Consistent With Your Wishes in Your Last Will and Testament

By Sabrina Winters

Once you have finalized and executed your Last Will and Testament, you must make sure that your assets correspond with how your Last Will and Testament disposes of your assets.  The disposition of any asset that you have named a beneficiary will not be disposed of via your Last Will and Testament.

For example, if “A” owns investment accounts alone and named “C” as the beneficiary, that investment account would pass to “C” automatically when “A” died no matter what the Last Will and Testament says. 

Another examples is “A” and “B” own a home as joint tenants with the right of survivorship.  If “A” dies, “A’s” 1/2 interest in the property automatically passes to “B” at “A’s” death; regardless of what the Last Will and Testamen says. These types of assets are said to “pass outside the Will” and pass pursuant to Contract Laws and not Estate Laws.

It is very important to be consistent with your wishes contained in your Last Will and Testament and how your assets are currently held if you want your wishes to be followed in your Last Will and Testament.  You may find that you need to change beneficiary designations and/or how your property is held once your Last Will and Testament has been properly executed.

At the Law Offices of Sabrina Winters, Attorney at Law, PLLC we make it a practice to close out the file with a detailed letter of which assets need to be changed and the correct way to change them.

 

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