If you have life insurance–regardless of the type–chances are you told your life insurance company at the time of your application who you wanted as your life insurance beneficiary.
You may have listed a spouse, or perhaps a child or children.
When you created a Will, you also listed beneficiaries. However–and this is important–your will has nothing to do with who will inherit from your life insurance.
A common example: You set up a will and list your spouse as a beneficiary. You set up a life insurance policy, and list your spouse as a beneficiary. Years later, you get a divorce. After the divorce, you decide to update your will so that your ex-spouse is no longer on it. Instead, your adult children are the beneficiaries.
At this point, you may think the beneficiaries listed on the will are the individuals who’ll receive your life insurance. They’re not. Your ex-husband is still listed as beneficiary on the life insurance policy. In order for your children to inherit, you’ll need to contact your life insurance company and change the beneficiaries.
Life insurance policies aren’t the only thing a will won’t cover. Talk to an attorney familiar with estate planning and probate to make sure your loved ones are protected.