Standard retirement account beneficiary forms may not be flexible enough to ensure your money passes to family members ...

Maybe you’ve heard of “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning.” It’s a guide to proactively downsizing your stuff while you’re still alive. Doing so spares your heirs the mess of doing it themselves ...

Neither a last will and testament nor joint tenancy with the right of survivorship will necessarily be the final word.

People are often think that establishing a living trust and signing a power of attorney is all that they need to do to control their assets in the event of incapacity and eventual death.  This can ...

A variety of financial accounts, including retirement plans and life insurance, allow individuals to designate beneficiaries. Whoever is named on a beneficiary designation form will receive those ...

Want to make things easier for your loved ones? Find out how naming a bank account beneficiary can simplify the access to your funds after you’re gone.

Rebecca Jarvie-Gibbs, founder of culture agency Example, has launched Fine Form, a debut podcast exploring how ambition can exist without burnout and how careers can be built on clarity, purpose and ...

Investopedia contributors come from a range of backgrounds, and over 25 years there have been thousands of expert writers and editors who have contributed. Dr. JeFreda R. Brown is a financial ...

When someone dies, one of the first questions asked is what needs to be done to transfer property out of the decedent’s name. For many, this is an urgent issue.

Bank accounts with named beneficiaries transfer directly to those people with just a death certificate and ID. Joint accounts with survivorship rights automatically belong to the surviving owner.

Some people like to imagine the ideal windfall: A surprise (and tax-free!) inheritance from a distant relative whom you barely remember or never met. It’s much less fun to think about navigating a ...