How to check the beneficiary on every account and policy

Why the name on file matters more than the will

Many accounts and policies pass to whoever is named on the company's own form, not to whoever is named in your will. That form is often called a beneficiary designation. If it names someone who has died, or an old partner, or nobody at all, the money can end up somewhere you did not intend, or wait in a long process before anyone can touch it.

The form also beats a handwritten note, a conversation at the kitchen table and sometimes a will itself. So the name on file is worth checking on purpose, once a year, rather than assuming it still says what you meant.

Make a list of what to check

Sit down with your statements, your online accounts and your policy paperwork. You do not need every detail today. You need the list of places that hold money or cover you, so you can work through them.

• Bank accounts, savings and checking
• Retirement accounts through an employer or opened yourself
• Life insurance policies, including any through a job
• Investment and brokerage accounts
• Annuities
• Health savings or similar accounts
• Any policy or account you opened years ago and mostly forgot

For each one, write down the company, the account or policy number if you have it, and where the paperwork lives. If you cannot find the number, the company name and your own name are enough to start a call.

Find the beneficiary form and read it

Most companies let you see your beneficiary online, usually under a settings, profile or "beneficiaries" tab. If you cannot find it, call the number on your statement and ask them to read back who is named. Some will send a form by post or email.

Read the whole thing, not just the first name. Check the percentage split if there is more than one person. Check whether a backup beneficiary is named in case the first person dies before you. Check whether a trust or an estate is named, because that changes how the money is handled.

If the form is blank, that is the most important thing you will find today. Fill it in.

Watch for the old names

An ex spouse who is still listed. A parent who has died. A child listed as a minor with no backup. A former employer plan you rolled over and never updated. These are the names that cause the most trouble, because families often assume the will covers it, and it does not.

Change the form with the company directly. Keep a copy of the confirmation, whether that is a letter, an email or a screenshot. A form you filled in but never sent changes nothing.

If you are naming a child, ask the company how they handle a beneficiary who is under age, and name a backup adult as well. Rules on this differ, so check with the company and with the rule where you live.

Do the same pass on policies held through work

Life insurance through an employer is easy to forget, because it is not something you bought or think about. It often has its own beneficiary form, separate from everything else. When you change jobs, the old cover usually ends, but the name on the old form can linger in your memory as if it still counts.

Check any cover you have through a job, a union or a membership. If you have left that job, confirm whether the cover still exists and who is named.

Write down what you find

Keep a simple record: the company, the account or policy, who is named, the date you checked, and where the paperwork sits. Update it when something changes. This record is what your family will reach for when they need to know what exists and who to contact.

If you are using SuddenGone, this record belongs in the Accounts and money section of your envelope. You can see how the sections fit together on the covers page, and there is a printable prompt list on the checklist page if you want a starting point.

Put a reminder in the calendar

Pick a date you will remember, maybe a birthday or the start of a new year, and do this pass once a year. It takes an hour if your list is already written. It also gives you a natural moment to check the other things families need: who knows where the will is, what bills run on autopay, and which subscriptions should stop.

Life changes are the other trigger. A marriage, a divorce, a death in the family, a new child, a new job: any of these can leave an old name in place. Add a note to check your beneficiaries whenever one of them happens.

Tell one person where the record lives

A record nobody can find is no help. Tell one trusted person that the list exists and where it sits, without handing over passwords. They only need to know it is there and how to reach it when the time comes. The legacy contacts guide covers how to choose that person and what to tell them.

Then leave it alone until next year. The point is not to get every account perfect today. It is to know what you have, who is named, and that the answer still matches what you want.