5 Financial Tasks To Tackle Now
5 Financial Tasks To Tackle Now
5 Financial Tasks You Should Tackle by the End of 2019
Posted by News Team | Nov 23, 2019 | Personal Finance
A task without a deadline is just wishful thinking.
Sometimes, you can get away with procrastinating. If you never get around to alphabetizing your spices, no one’s life will change. But putting off some tasks could have a huge impact on loved ones.
The close of the year is a good time to set some firm deadlines to make sure you won’t leave a financial mess for people you love if you unexpectedly die or become incapacitated. Consider putting these items on your to-do list with a Dec. 31 due date:
1. Check Your Beneficiaries
If you need convincing that updating beneficiaries is important, consider the case of David Egelhoff, a Washington state man who died two months after his divorce was final in 1994.
Because he had not changed his beneficiaries, his life insurance proceeds and pension plan were paid to his ex-wife rather than his children from a previous marriage. The children sued, and the case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in 2001 that the beneficiary designations had to be honored.
You’re typically prompted to name beneficiaries when you sign up for a 401(k) or other retirement account. Beneficiaries also are usually required when you buy annuities or life insurance. You often can check and change beneficiaries online, or you may need to call the company to request the appropriate form.
2. Review Pay-On-Death Designations
You may not have been required to name beneficiaries when you opened your checking account or a non-retirement investment account. Instead, financial institutions may offer a “pay on death” option.
This allows you to name a beneficiary who can receive the money directly. Otherwise, the account typically has to go through probate, the legal procedure to distribute your property after you die.
Some states also have “transfer on death” options for vehicles and even real estate. Like pay-on-death accounts, these options allow you to pass property directly to heirs without the potential delays and costs of probate.
Beneficiaries can be added to vehicle registrations in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Vermont and Virginia, according to self-help legal site Nolo. To add or change a beneficiary, you apply for a certificate of car ownership with the beneficiary form.
Transfer-on-death deeds for real estate are available in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming, according to legal site RocketLawyer.
To add or change a beneficiary, the deed must be submitted to the appropriate county recorder.
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