Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, if you get married, your spouse becomes the beneficiary of the retirement plans per federal law. Not sure how life insurance works, though.

Your plan seems fine; just remember to update it as your mom ages.

I think DC still has common-law marriage, too, so if you live there this may work differently if you live together but aren't married.

SEP IRA does not require spouse to inherit. I just inherited one from my late mother, who was married at the time of her death. Her spouse did not even have to sign an acknowledgement.

He likely did have to sign a waiver when she originally named you as the beneficiary. You can always name a beneficiary other than your spouse, but by default they get retirement plans if you have not done something proactive to change that. Most plans require the spouse to sign off if you want to designate someone other than your spouse. (I imagine this is to discourage fraud/elder abuse situations, but not sure.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, if you get married, your spouse becomes the beneficiary of the retirement plans per federal law. Not sure how life insurance works, though.

Your plan seems fine; just remember to update it as your mom ages.

I think DC still has common-law marriage, too, so if you live there this may work differently if you live together but aren't married.

SEP IRA does not require spouse to inherit. I just inherited one from my late mother, who was married at the time of her death. Her spouse did not even have to sign an acknowledgement.

Anonymous wrote:Filling out paperwork for SEP/IRA from employer and I am trying to figure out the best way to designate a beneficiary. I am thinking of having my son as primary (less than one year old) and my mother as contingent. Partner and I are not married so I am unsure whether I want to designate him as primary/contingent. If a beneficiary is not listed, then it goes to my estate(?)

My life insurance policies (completed pre-child) are something like 50% to parent 50% to partner since in the event of my and/or my partner's passing, my mom would save the money (I trust her) and my partner would use it for raising our kid.

Are there any LT financial consideration to take into account when determining whether to list a beneficiary or not? For example- if we get married, does my partner automatically have access to the IRA account in the event of a divorce or my passing? Concerns with designating a beneficiary under the age of 18?

Trying to be smart about this since we are not married and we have a child.

Thanks!

Anonymous wrote:Yes, if you get married, your spouse becomes the beneficiary of the retirement plans per federal law. Not sure how life insurance works, though.

Your plan seems fine; just remember to update it as your mom ages.

I think DC still has common-law marriage, too, so if you live there this may work differently if you live together but aren't married.