While we at Rigby Financial Group advise all our clients to have wills drafted and to update them regularly for any life-changing event (e.g., the birth of a child or grandchild, divorce, marriage or remarriage, the death of a loved one), not everyone has a will in place.

In fact, some 43% of people aged 50 and older are on track to die intestate (i.e., the State will step in to divvy up the assets left behind). For those over 50 who live alone and are childless, the percentage is even higher, at 50%.

This can have surprising results – surprising, at least, for recipients who may be relations, however distant, but have never met – or, in some cases, even heard of – the relation from whom they are inheriting.

Since people cannot be expected to feel much grief at the passing of someone they have never known, and since everyone can be expected to react happily to an unexpected windfall, such beneficiaries are called “laughing heirs.” And why not? They are, after all, laughing – all the way to their bank!

However, it’s easy enough to avoid enriching those distant relations and/or connections you have no acquaintance with (such as your fifth cousin’s adopted son’s widow, perhaps).

Here are some suggestions:

Make a Will!

It’s of first importance to make your will. Have an experienced estate attorney draw it up for you – if you don’t have one, let us make a recommendation; we work with a number of excellent estate attorneys.

Choose your heirs carefully – if you are married and have children, that’s where you start. But there are other bequests – to charity, to friends, etc., which you may want to specify as well.

Keep your will up to date. Review it carefully on a periodic basis, even if you think nothing in your situation or wishes has changed. You may surprise yourself and want to make changes without having realized it before you actually look at your will.

In addition, review your will upon:

• The birth of a child or grandchild
• Divorce (yours or one of your beneficiaries’)
• Marriage, or remarriage (again, whether it’s your own or a beneficiary’s)
• The death of a loved one, whether they were one of your chosen heirs or not. Sometimes the death of someone close can change the way you want your assets handled when you are gone.

Designate Beneficiaries Wherever Possible

For many assets, including insurance policies, retirement accounts and many non-qualified investment accounts, you can designate beneficiaries. Appropriate beneficiary designations should be in effect for any asset that allows such designations (even some bank accounts can have beneficiaries designated for them).

Having designated beneficiaries (provided you keep such designations up to date, and avoid having accounts designated for beneficiaries who have either pre-deceased you or are no longer the people you want to inherit the account or insurance proceeds removes these assets from probate – and the courts governing estates concern themselves only with probate assets.

But accounts and insurance policies which can, but do not, designate beneficiaries must go through probate.

So, make sure you have your beneficiary designations in place and up to date at all times. Review them (along with all components of your estate plan) periodically, and upon life-altering events such as those listed above.

Have a Comprehensive Estate Plan

Especially if you have substantial assets to leave, we strongly urge you to have an estate plan (if you don’t already), and again, to ensure it is kept up to date.

An estate plan is the best way to ensure that all your assets are designated to those you want them to go to.

Begin with your virtual CFO, or other trusted financial advisor. We at RFG have been advising on estate and financial planning for many years and would be delighted to be your first step on your own estate planning journey.

Your estate attorney, too, is invaluable in ensuring your wills, powers of attorney, and any trusts you want set up are exactly as you want them.

Final Thoughts

While life will always be unpredictable – that’s part of its beauty – not everything needs to remain uncertain.

We highly recommend avoiding uncertainty as to where your assets will end up when you no longer have use for them.

Please – we urge you – make 2025 the year you visit your financial advisor and your estate attorney, draw up your will, your powers of attorney, and any trusts advisable for your unique, individual situation.

And if you already have these in place, make this the year you review them very thoroughly to ensure they are still as you need and want them to be.

Please click here to email us directly – Rigby Financial Group’s trusted financial and estate advisors are always at your service – that’s what we are here for!.

Until next time –

Peace,

Eric