Will vs. Pension beneficiary

[aswidler]

What happens when a will has a different distribution listed for a pension account than is listed as beneficiaries by the pension management company?

 

[advisor10]

MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2001

DEAR ASWIDLER:

The beneficiaries (as listed by the pension management company, taken from a form that the account owner submitted at the time he/she opened the account) shown by the pension management company take priority.

The language of the will, unfortunately, cannot override the beneficiary designation form. The account owner, if he had wanted the beneficiary changes to agree with the will, should have submitted a corrected/revised beneficiary form, but account owners frequently forget or don't know that this needs to be done.

SINCERELY,

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