03/08/2026
We oftentimes forget to add children born later to our financial paperwork other times we fail to add them all together. Accounts with beneficiaries listed trumps what's in your will or better yet gives these beneficiaries access even without a will.
Saying “my will covers everything” is how families get blindsided and lawyers get paid....
This comes up in the comments on almost every estate planning post. Someone says "my will takes care of everything." It does not, if any accounts have beneficiary designations that say something different.
A Transfer on Death (TOD) designation on a brokerage account, a Pay on Death (POD) on a bank account, or a beneficiary form on a life insurance policy or IRA is a contract with that financial institution.
When you die, the account transfers directly to whoever is named on that form. The probate court never touches it. Your will has no authority over it.
Frank has a will that says all assets split equally among his three children. His brokerage account has a TOD naming only his oldest son. He added it in 2014 when he opened the account. He updated his will in 2021. He never updated the TOD. Frank dies. The oldest son gets the full $480,000. The other two children get nothing from that account. The will is irrelevant.
This is not a hypothetical. Estate attorneys see this constantly. The most common version is an ex-spouse still listed as the beneficiary on a life insurance policy or retirement account years after a divorce. Some states have laws that automatically revoke an ex-spouse designation at divorce. Many do not. And financial institutions follow the form on file regardless.
The fix is a beneficiary audit. Pull the beneficiary designation on every account you own: brokerage, bank, IRA, 401(k), life insurance, annuity. Compare each one to what your will or trust says. If they conflict, the form wins. Update the forms.
