contingent beneficiary’s
For an unmarried account owner is there any need for a contingent beneficiary if the account has at least one primary beneficiary? Seems as if all versions of “per stirpes” , “representation” , and “per capita” allocate one way or another to decendants ( lineal or otherwise)of the primary bene and therefore nothing would be available to a contingent anyway. What am I missing.
Permalink Submitted by Janine Janine on Tue, 2008-10-14 18:34
What if the primary beneficiary pre-deceases the owner, who has neglected to file a new beneficiary form or he dies before he has the opportunity to name a new beneficiary! Moreover, why not be specific as to whom you want to inherit your assets, which I assume you worked hard to accumulate!
Permalink Submitted by Alan Spross on Tue, 2008-10-14 21:21
It is rare to have a contingent beneficiary along with a per stirpes designation, but if the lineal descendent line is very short, the contingent beneficiary could inherit if the entire line pre deceased the IRA owner.
Without a per stirpes, then the primary beneficiary is the only person who would pre decease the owner before the contingent beneficiary was activated.
The opportunity to disclaim can also be applied with either of the above beneficiary structures.