Stoel Rives partner and trusts and estates attorney Wendy Goffe provides a cautionary tale in her latest Forbes column “When Bad Things Happen to Good People with IRAs.” In the article, Wendy shows how mistakes with beneficiary designations can leave already grieving heirs with a lot less dough and a lot more grief:
“Clients who pay big bucks to have lawyers prepare wills and trusts often complete their IRA beneficiary designations without any professional advice. Worse yet, some forget to fill out these forms at all. The result may be that loved ones get much less than intended, while creditors, an ex-spouse or ne’er-do-well relative wins the IRA lottery.”
Read on for a checklist of how to prevent that from happening.
“When Bad Things Happen to Good People” was published by Forbes on September 3, 2014.