Automatic Asset Transfers to Beneficiaries

You might have asked yourself the question, 'Are there any of my assets that could transfer automatically to my heirs upon my death?' The answer is, yes.

Asset accounts you own can be titled asjoint tenants with right of survivorship. These accounts would be similar to having a beneficiary designation. And the joint owner on those accounts would automatically inherit 100% of the asset balance when you die. A great benefit of this is that those assets go to your beneficiary without having to go through the dreaded probate process. Thus saving your executor and estate a lot of money.

An important thing to note is that these automatic asset transfers are not subject to your written will. Joint tenants with right of survivorship or a beneficiary designation trump the terms of your will. Therefore, it would be wise to make sure that your will does not conflict with any other documents in order to make absolutely sure your wishes are carried out. So if there is a change of ownership on a joint tenant account make sure to update your will to reflect any changes. Ideally, the joint tenant should only be your spouse which would keep changes minimal or unecessary, however, in the real world divorce does happen.

Contact a professional Estate Planning Lawyer that can help you better organize your assets, wills, and other estate planning documents.

*This blog entry was not written by an Attorney and should not be constituted as professional legal advice.