Regardless of the asset, be sure you consistently update the designation to reflect your desires. We recently helped a client who was a beneficiary of her second cousin’s life insurance and pension. Sadly, the deceased failed to update her designations and those she wanted to benefit had predeceased her. While the cousin we assisted was close to her family, she was part of a “class” of relatives who shared equally in the distribution despite the fact that the other cousins had not spoken to or seen the deceased in years. It was a bit like winning the lottery for these distant relatives, but is that what the deceased had in mind? Probably not.