Valuable Lessons I’ve Learned About
People fear talking about death. It is however impossible to ignore death as a reality of life. This is the reason why it is important to write a will so that your dependents can be comfortable when you leave this world. Knowing your dependents is the first step in writing the will. Dependents can be different people ranging from family members to friends. Of importance is to ensure they know in advance.
A beneficiary is the person who is named in a will to benefit from the assets of the person who wrote the will. The beneficiary is named as a successor of an estate, investment or even insurance policy. In case the beneficiary is a minor, he or she will wait to reach legal age to inherit the property. As the benefactor, let the beneficiaries be aware of the will early. This avoids confusion upon death.
A written will should be revisited once in a while. There are life changes that can lead you to change the content of the will. Of importance also is that you should also have alternate or secondary beneficiaries. If the primary beneficiary dies, the secondary one takes over. Ensure that your will is updated at all times.
There are several categories of beneficiaries. First, we have the irrevocable beneficiary. Get legal counsel and financial advice before settling on an irrevocable beneficiary. It is very difficult to change the identified irrevocable beneficiaries. On the other hand, there are revocable beneficiaries. This one can be changed in case something happens in life. Beneficiaries can be altered due to things like marriage or divorce.
A primary beneficiary is defined as the person who is in line directly to receive your assets upon your death. Insurance companies will always ask for this person first. Contingent or alternate beneficiaries form another group of beneficiaries. This is the alternative beneficiary if the primary beneficiary was to die before getting the inheritance. Others are residuary beneficiaries. These are named to get very particular items from the benefactors. An example is when a grandmother assigns a particular jewel to a grandchild.
Point to remember is that residuary beneficiaries can also have alternate residuary beneficiaries in place. There are many people who can be named as beneficiaries in a will. The spouse is the most preferred person by most people. After naming the spouse, it is good to name the alternate beneficiary. A good choice here would be the children. There are many people who prefer to have children as primary beneficiaries.
Friends and charities can also be named as beneficiaries. It is a personal choice. More information about wills can be found online for further reading. Generally, writing a will is very important since nobody knows when death will occur hence the importance of preparing in advance.