Many Options for Naming Insurance Beneficiary
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After you are approved for a life insurance policy, you have a big decision: naming a beneficiary. It's not as simple as it appears to be.
Consider these types of beneficiaries as told by New York
Life Insurance Co.
• First, second and third beneficiaries: It's wise to name two or three others in addition to the first beneficiary. If one passes on before you do, the second, then the third beneficiary gets the benefit without any further action on your part.
• Irrevocable beneficiary. Irrevocable designations are often used in divorce settlements. They forbid anyone but the designated beneficiary to surrender the policy, take out loans on it, or assign new beneficiaries.
• Per stirpes. This is a way of dividing the benefit among family branches. If the beneficiary dies, for example, the benefit goes to his or her children.
• Collateral assignments. When the insurance is used to secure a loan, the assignment gives the creditor the right to claim cash value, dividends, and death benefit should the loan go into default. Any excess benefit is paid to the surviving beneficiaries.
• Beneficiary for value. This designation guarantees that the death benefit will be used to pay for services rendered by a specific business or creditor, such as a funeral home. The benefit covers the exact cost of the service, or services, provided. Once this settlement is made, the remaining benefit will be paid to the surviving beneficiaries.
Beneficiary designations are important during the claims process. They provide specific legal instructions that can help to make sure the policy owner's final wishes are fulfilled as quickly and as easily as possible.
Canopy – EAP Access
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Employees and family members can call Canopy 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Call Canopy to schedule an in–person appointment or get the resources you need.
For more information, please call us at 800–433–2320.
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Time to Talk to Parents about Their Will
It can be a touchy subject, but there's no time like the present to have a talk with your parents about whether or not they have made a will.
About a quarter of all adults with assets of more than $500,000 don't have a will, according to PNC Wealth Management. If your parent has no will and lives in one of 16 states that pass everything on to a spouse (or second or third spouse), you won't get anything.
If your father or mother lives in many other states, the surviving spouse gets half of everything. In most states, the surviving spouse can't be disinherited and will get a third or half of the state in spite of any will, but not all of it.
Verbal agreements in a late–life marriage aren't worth anything. The stepmom or stepdad might agree to do something for the adult kids, but unless it's specified in the will, he or she can just walk away.
Because people are living longer, they are more likely to move into second marriages. Financial planners say some inheritance cases are going to court even while parents are still alive, but children from previous marriages have few rights when they are up against their parents' new spouses.
One of the worst arrangements a parent can make involves leaving everything to the second spouse with kids getting what's left over after the stepparent dies.
Ideally, communicating about a will is best done before the parent remarries. Talk to your parent. Remind him or her of their previous plans for their children and grandchildren.
Canopy EAP – ‘Do It Yourself' Will Preparation
Canopy offers a self–help, interactive Online Will Program to its plan members. It provides members with a resource to privately create their own state specific will, in an online, secure environment. Members enter the members–only web site and then follow the prompts for choosing the Will format that best suits the members' personal situation. Members then proceed to build their own wills, which they can download and print for signature purposes. Complete instructions on the proper signing of the will and specific witnesses requirements are included and must be followed in order for the will to be valid. The Online Will Program is valid in 49 States (the one exception is Louisiana).
No attorney or assistance is involved in this program. The individual member makes all of the necessary decisions to complete the Will, including the selection of the specific forms. If a member is uncertain about any form or question involved in this self–help program, the member should consult with an estate planning attorney.
Our Commitment to Excellence
Canopy offers you excellence with experience, unlimited accessibility, coordination with benefit plans, a variety of services, a professional caring staff, and more.
We build lasting relationships with the individuals and organizations we serve. These enduring partnerships are the foundation of our company.
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