Benefit administrators, 401(k) vendors, recordkeepers and benefits professionals regularly recommend that participants in qualified retirement plans periodically review and update their beneficiary ...

Many of you know that clients can designate beneficiaries of their retirement plans and insurance policies by using the standard forms provided by financial institutions. But, you may not know that ...

An employer’s retirement plan documents did not incorporate beneficiary designation forms in its language or appendices, so the forms did not govern the award of benefits, a court ruled. A federal ...

Sometimes conflicting beneficiary designations for 401(k) plan assets can be tough to sort out when a plan participant dies. It took a verdict from the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 9 th ...

An often-neglected area in the world of benefit plan administration is the beneficiary designation form. Many participants complete their beneficiary designations incorrectly because they don’t read ...

Beneficiary designations are an essential component of every estate plan; however, these designations are often overlooked. As a bit of background, there is a distinction between probate assets and ...

A federal district court has ruled for a second time on litigation arising from a dispute over verbal and written beneficiary designations. A thorny Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ...

A May 2017 decision of the Federal Court for the Middle District of Florida should provide an impetus for employers with employer-sponsored retirement plans to reevaluate their beneficiary designation ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Bob Carlson researches all facets of retirement finances. A beneficiary check up is an important part of your regular financial ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Matthew F. Erskine is a trusts and estates attorney. Along with a Will and a Trust, the most common documents used in estate ...