Why Beneficiary Forms Decide Who Inherits Retirement and Life Insurance Accounts

Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance and payable-on-death accounts override wills in most cases.

Failing to update beneficiary forms after major life events can lead to unintended outcomes.

Wills govern assets without beneficiary designations, such as real estate, personal property, and vehicles.

The dramatic reading of the will in a wood-paneled office has long been a staple of television dramas. The question of who's in—or not in—the will is a go-to for murder whodunnits, and there's good reason the premise lands: Many Americans believe the will has the final say over their legacy.

The truth, though, is that for much of what typical Americans leave behind—retirement accounts, life insurance, and bank accounts with a payable-on-death designation—the will means little. What matters is the beneficiary form you filled out and, often, forgot about when you opened those accounts. That's what dictates who gets what when you die.

More than $49.1 trillion was held in U.S. retirement accounts—like and ,—and in as of 2025, according to the Investment Company Institute. Not a dollar of it will ever pass through a will.

Instead, the funds will be distributed according to the beneficiary designations listed on a form on file with your financial institution. The same rule applies to policies and any bank or brokerage account with a or designation.

About three in four Americans don't have a will, according to a Caring.com survey.

"Beneficiary forms are extremely powerful and trump whatever it might say in the will in most or all circumstances," said Ari Weisbard, a certified financial planner and attorney at Values Added.

There's a real benefit to this: your loved ones don't have to wait for a probate court to rule to get money for your funeral or their own needs. Except in rare instances, the beneficiary form is the final word. For example, if your will names your spouse as the beneficiary of your IRA but the account designates your children, the money will go to your kids, even if your updated your will recently.

Still, if you've forgotten about those beneficiary forms, you're not alone.

"Some people leave retirement accounts in place with old beneficiaries when they leave their job," Weisbard said. "If they listed their friend or sibling as the beneficiary, that might still govern even if they got married or had kids later."