A recent survey done by NICSA, a not-for-profit trade association, reveals retirement accounts have little to no consistency in how beneficiary designations are handled among account providers. According to the survey, depending on the provider the default beneficiaries will vary widely, with 30 percent of plans defaulting to the estate, 43 percent to surviving spouse prior to the estate, and 22 percent to the spouse then children then the estate. In addition, the survey also revealed that only 25 percent of the providers allow account holders to update beneficiary designations online.
See, New NICSA Survey Finds Wide Variation in Policies on Beneficiary Designations, PR Web, Nov. 5, 2014.
