Do you have a power of attorney?
 

Do you have a power of attorney? (That's what it is called in Canada)
If not, please get one.
My mother did not have one and it became a s##t show when she became mentally incapacitated.
The government agency that handles this is a joke.
Do your family a favour and take care of this.

i'm doing this now.

we call it something different (the lawyer was yammering on, i blanked out)..i got the hierarchy figured out on who gets to take over when my mind goes to mush.

Great reminder Rod - My mother made me a "Signer" on her accounts in addition to Power of Attorney. Important to note that a Power of Attorney only in effect while the person is alive. Also get a letter from the Doc saying the person is no longer capable of making sound decisions.

My mother passed a year and half ago and just now closing her estate this week. As executor, it was a lot of work tying all the loose end and disperse among 5 siblings.....Power Attorney certainly helped while she was alive....

Power of attorney, Medical Directive ( or whatever your particular state calls it), as well as a WILL!

Lots of people just get a will because they figure they will just die one day.
You wish! There will be a ****ked up slide way before you get there.
I still think many are hoping to take everything with them.

Both my wife and I went and got wills and power of attorney and living wills with the associated power of attorney a few years back. My mother also has all of that stuff setup including having me listed as co-owner on some things.

Another related item - our attorney had several "horror" stories of cases he has been involved with over the years - many of them involve people not updating their beneficiaries at work - for their insurance plans and/or their 401K/retirement plans. When you get your docs set up - make sure you make the required revisions for beneficiaries on those plans!

When my father passed his beneficiary on his life insurance overrode his will.

Exactly correct - which is why you must update beneficiary info on your life insurance policies as well as retirement plans. When you list the direct beneficiary (spouse, child(ren), etc) the proceeds are paid direct - circumventing the will. (You probably do NOT want to list your kids on your 401k - instead list your "estate".)

Here's an example of the complications that can surface:
https://www.thebalance.com/why-beneficiary-designations-override-your-will-2388824

Example of Planning Gone Bad

I worked with a client who's wife worked for a large national defense company. It was a second marriage, and when she got ill with a serious cancer, she had a trust drawn up. She wanted her two children and husband to each get one-third of her assets. However, she did not update her beneficiary designation with her 401(k) plan and so that sizeable account all went directly to the husband.

He wanted to honor her wishes (luckily for the kids from her prior marriage), but if he cashed in the 401(k) and paid it to the kids he would have to report all the income on his tax return. He and the kids decided instead to set up an IRA in his name, but with the kids named as the beneficiaries, and they agreed with each distribution he made to them he could withhold enough to cover the taxes. This turned out okay, but will be an ongoing administrative hassle for years. This type of hassle could have been avoided by updating the retirement plan beneficiary form at the wife's employer. (Note: the employer had no choice - they must follow the beneficiary designation form on file and cannot change the distribution after death even if all parties agree to the change.)

It's the same thing with CD's in the bank with a P.O.D. (Payable on Death) designation with a named beneficiary(ies). For example:

Bob had 3 children: John, Alex and Rachel. Of all of Bob's 3 children, only John had a child and we'll call her Betty. So Betty is the grandchild of Bob.

Bob had a CD at the bank notated with "P.O.D" with named beneficiaries John, Alex and Rachel, all to be paid equal amounts upon his death.

Bob also had a Will. In Bob's Will, he stated that he was to leave everything to his children and listed them as John, Alex and Rachel. The Will also included "per stirpes" that meant should any of the named beneficiaries to the Will predecease Bob, then that beneficiaries portion of the Estate would go to that beneficiaries child/children.

As fate would have it, John predeceases Bob. Bob figures that the Will, per stirpes, will provide Betty with what John would have received, so everything just rocks along as normal.

As fate would have it, Bob passes away. Now here is the important part of the "lesson":

The P.O.D. CD at the bank isn't a part of the Estate. It isn't controlled by the Will. It has named beneficiaries, being John, Alex and Rachel. John is no longer alive. So the bank is going to divide the CD between the remaining named beneficiaries being Alex and Rachel. Betty doesn't have a dog in this hunt. The only way Betty would have been able to step up in the shoes of her late father John with regard to the CD is if she were named as a contingent to John on the CD.