Who will your pension be left with?
In compiling your list of “not particularly exciting…but grown up” things to do for 2020, hopefully this will include a Will being drafted, or updated.
Understandably, people often think a Will takes care of pension pay outs on death. This isn’t the case.
The pension scheme trustees usually have discretion over who they pay death benefits to. They are however guided by “expression of wishes” letters that you give them from time to time, during your life.
Life is busy. Your circumstances may have changed through separation, divorce, having children/grandchildren etc. You may have presumed that an existing Will has taken care of this. Or it may be something that you haven’t managed to get around to doing.
You might not thank us for adding an extra thing to your “to do” list – sorry! But your beneficiaries definitely will, as it will save them from worry, hassle and potential hardship at a difficult time in their lives.
If you think this need addressing, you should contact your pension scheme administrator or financial adviser. Often you can do this online and if not, you should ask for their “expression of wishes form” to complete.
A good thing to tick off the list.
