Beneficiary Question

[Johnny Rockets]

Question:

Right now my 401K, Pensions, IRA's, Life Insurance, etc. are all set up to go 100% to my ex and split 50/50 to my kids as secondary beneficiaries. I have a trip to Vegas planned in about a week and there is a good chance that all of this may come into play should something go horribly wrong or horribly right depending on how you look at it.

Here is where I need some advice and God only knows why I am asking here. If I take her off and leave it all to my kids how will that work with one being 18 and the other being 7. Will my son just get his half of the money and be able to spend it on weed up at NC State or will it go to some trust fund since it is my retirement money? What about my daughter's portion?

The second part of this is that my ex is not able to pay the mortgage on our old home and to try and sell it would be a decent loss due to the housing market being down and I don't want to do that. So, I pay the mortage and insurance on my old home so they do not have to move so my daughter's life is not disrupted anymore than it needs to be. If I change the beneficiaries to my kids I guess she would lose the home if something happens to me.

What I am thinking about doing is leaving all of my retirement accounts to my kids and leaving my life insurance to my ex which would easily pay off the house and much more. Does that make sense?

Anyone else deal with this situation before and can give some advice? What is the right way to handle this? And no I am not leaving anything to any of you.

[Guest]

Stuff I found out when I got divorced - Insurance/401k stuff: For your daughter (a minor), you have to set up a trust for her to be a beneficiary. I guess since your son is 18 he is old enough to be named a direct beneficiary.

Part II, I have no idea.

[sharkkiller]

Ex-wife should get whichever is the smaller amount. Technically, she should get jack poo, as my ex-wife does. But I understand your hesitance since your daughter should not have her entire life changed.

[Johnny Rockets]

Stuff I found out when I got divorced - Insurance/401k stuff: For your daughter (a minor), you have to set up a trust for her to be a beneficiary. I guess since your son is 18 he is old enough to be named a direct beneficiary.

.

Lawyer for that? I need to see one anyway and set up a will. Pretty ignorant that I haven't done that already especially since I have a legal plan through work.

[Hawk]

it's about time you send "your" daughter home to me, where she belongs. This will solve all your problems and I'll make sure she gets her half when she turns 18!

PS...have fun in Vegas

[Guest]

Lawyer for that? I need to see one anyway and set up a will. Pretty ignorant that I haven't done that already especially since I have a legal plan through work.

But of course, you need a goddamned lawyer for every fuging thing.

[thefuzz]

You need to set up a trust for your daughter, son, and the wife.

You should be able to set it up so that the wife gets a certain monthly payment from your insurance, 401, etc..

The same can apply for the kids.

Figure out what it would cost the wife to carry the house, and have that be the amount that is sent to her monthly.

The oldest would get a check every month, or you could set it up that he has to graduate college, and turn 25 before he starts getting a check.

The youngest could just go into savings, or other investment vehicles.

[CRA]

You need to set up a trust for your daughter, son, and the wife.

You should be able to set it up so that the wife gets a certain monthly payment from your insurance, 401, etc..

The same can apply for the kids.

Figure out what it would cost the wife to carry the house, and have that be the amount that is sent to her monthly.

The oldest would get a check every month, or you could set it up that he has to graduate college, and turn 25 before he starts getting a check.

The youngest could just go into savings, or other investment vehicles.

I like this.

except for the son has to graduate part. Future is hard to predict and wise choices can be made that don't involve a 4 yr college degree.

to a degree, a lot of majors are worthless these days and simply give you a piece of paper. Mine practically is. Has nothing to do with my job nor was it even needed to get started.

[Panthro]

My fiances roommate has a trust set up. You can design a trust however you like it. His pays for living expenses and school and didn't kick in until he was 25 rather than cutting your son (and my new best friend) a $500k check. He get a xmas bonus every year off of it as well.

[thefuzz]

I like this.

except for the son has to graduate part. Future is hard to predict and wise choices can be made that don't involve a 4 yr college degree.

to a degree, a lot of majors are worthless these days and simply give you a piece of paper. Mine practically is. Has nothing to do with my job nor was it even needed to get started.

I was just giving an example.

Maybe it's military service, maybe a college degree, maybe getting married...I don't know.

What I would not want to happen is for an 18 year old kid to start getting 4K per month, and him become exactly what you would assume he would become.

Make both kids jump through some hoops to get dead dads money.

[thefuzz]

My fiances roommate has a trust set up. You can design a trust however you like it. His pays for living expenses and school and didn't kick in until he was 25 rather than cutting your son (and my new best friend) a $500k check. He get a xmas bonus every year off of it as well.

This is the smartest way to do it, IMO.

Living in Willmington, I meet a ton of trust funders....the ones that are set up this way are the one's that I can stand to be around.

[PanthaSan]

Cash it out, spend it on hookers and blow, problem solved and you will have no worries after you die.....

[Johnny Rockets]

Cash it out, spend it on hookers and blow, problem solved and you will have no worries after you die.....

Funny you say that...I am using some of my 401K to fund my fun in Vegas. Not the smartest thing but my decisions are rarely known as stellar ones. Not cashing it out, just taking out a loan to clear out all my debt and a bit more for Johnny Rockets time in Vegas then Florida a couple weeks after.

Sounds like I need to go visit a lawyer and discuss the options you guys have given. Thanks for the help...I am impressed. Huddle, you are the best and don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise.

[Murph]

Can I have JC's number?

what, too soon?