This is the single most misunderstood piece of estate planning. The beneficiary form you filled out at your first job 20 years ago controls where your 401k goes, no matter what your will says today. Most people have stale designations. Fixing them takes 30 minutes.
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Your 401k, IRA, Roth, HSA, life insurance, and pension all have beneficiary forms. Bank and brokerage accounts can have TOD or POD designations. Whoever is named on those forms gets the money at your death, even if your will says otherwise. Check every account, name a primary and a contingent, and fix the stale ones. Self-custodied Bitcoin has no account to attach a beneficiary to, which is why inheritance planning has to live outside these forms.
Not an attorney. This is education, not legal advice. Beneficiary rules interact with spousal rights, creditor claims, and retirement plan law in ways that vary by state. For anything material, consult an estate attorney.
A beneficiary designation is a contract between you and the financial institution. It says: on my death, pay this account to this person. The institution is legally bound to honor that contract. Your will is a separate document that only controls assets that pass through probate. Accounts with a valid beneficiary skip probate entirely.
You divorced 15 years ago. You remarried. Your will leaves everything to your current spouse. You never updated the 401k beneficiary, which still lists your ex. You die. The 401k goes to your ex. Full stop. The courts have consistently held that the beneficiary form wins, regardless of intent.
Some states have automatic-revocation-on-divorce statutes, but they only apply to state-governed assets and are overridden by federal law (ERISA) for most workplace retirement plans. You cannot rely on them.
Real estate can use a Transfer on Death deed in about 30 states [VERIFY]. Same idea: property passes directly, no probate, no separate beneficiary form beyond the recorded deed.
Log into each provider. Find the beneficiary page (usually under Profile, Account Settings, or Beneficiaries). Confirm the primary and contingent. Update anything stale. Takes roughly 30 minutes for a typical adult with three or four accounts.
For employer-provided benefits, log into the benefits portal. Life insurance is often separate from the 401k and has its own form. Do both.
Save a PDF confirmation of each updated designation. Put them in the same place you keep your will. Future you will appreciate the paper trail.
You can name a trust as beneficiary of a retirement account or life insurance policy. It is often the right move when you want to control timing (children who should not receive a lump sum at 18) or protect from creditors and divorce.
The trap is IRS see-through trust rules. To preserve inherited-IRA stretch treatment, the trust document must meet specific requirements. Your attorney needs to know the trust will be named on a retirement account and draft the relevant provisions accordingly. Do not try this with a generic trust template.
Self-custodied Bitcoin is not an account at an institution. There is no form to fill out, no customer service process, no legal contract between you and a custodian. The Bitcoin network does not know who you are, who your heirs are, or that you died. It only knows who can sign.
This is the entire reason the Inheritance guide exists as a separate document. The standard estate-planning toolkit of wills, trusts, and beneficiary forms covers everything except this one asset class.
If you hold Bitcoin at an exchange, a beneficiary or TOD designation works normally. If you self-custody, skip the beneficiary concept and plan access directly.
401k, IRAs, Roth, HSA, life insurance (personal and employer), pension, brokerage with TOD, bank accounts with POD.
Both fields filled out. Names and percentages correct. Spouse consent if required (ERISA rules require spousal consent to name anyone other than a spouse on a 401k).
Ex-spouses, deceased parents, former partners. Do it intentionally, in writing, with a confirmation.
Do not name children under 18 directly unless you want the court to appoint a guardian and hand them a lump sum at 18.
PDF per account. Cloud folder or printed binder. Your executor needs to find these.
Last updated 2026-04-14. Not legal advice. For anything material, consult an estate attorney.