Free printable worksheet

The Beneficiary Audit

Retirement accounts and life insurance generally pass by the beneficiary form on file, not by the will. This worksheet is one evening of reading those forms with your own eyes. It's the highest-value-per-minute task in estate planning.

Built on your device. There is no server behind this worksheet to receive what you print, save, or write down.

How to use it: for each account below, log in or call the institution and read the beneficiary line. Don't trust memory; the whole point is that forms drift. Write down who the primary is (first in line), who the contingent is (the backup if the primary has died), and when you last actually reviewed it.

Employer retirement plans

Your current 401(k) or 403(b), and every old plan still sitting at a previous employer. The forgotten old plan is the classic miss: it keeps the beneficiary you named on your first week, years and jobs ago.

Institution / plan	Primary	Contingent	Last reviewed	Notes

Trap #1: an ex-spouse still named. Divorce doesn't automatically fix these forms. Some states have laws that try to revoke an ex-spouse's designation, but the protections are patchy and often don't reach employer retirement plans. If there's been a divorce anywhere in the picture, read these forms first.

IRAs

Traditional, Roth, rollover, inherited: each account has its own form, even at the same institution.

Institution / account	Primary	Contingent	Last reviewed	Notes

Trap #2: no contingent named. If the primary beneficiary has died and there's no backup on the form, the account may fall into the estate and go through probate, which is usually the slowest possible path. Every row above should have both columns filled.

Life insurance

Every policy: the one you bought, the one through work (including the free coverage you may have forgotten you have), and any old policies from earlier chapters of life.

Insurer / policy	Primary	Contingent	Last reviewed	Notes

Trap #3: a minor named directly. Minor children generally can't receive these assets outright, and naming them directly on a form can trigger a court-supervised arrangement. There are cleaner routes (custodial arrangements, or a trust your will creates); this is a good question for an attorney or a platform's guidance, and our new-parents checklist covers it.

Annuities

Annuities carry their own beneficiary designations, and they're often bought once and never looked at again.

Company / contract	Primary	Contingent	Last reviewed	Notes

HSAs

Health savings accounts have beneficiary forms too, and they're the ones almost nobody remembers filling out.

Institution	Primary	Contingent	Last reviewed	Notes

Bank & brokerage POD / TOD

Payable-on-death (bank) and transfer-on-death (brokerage) designations work the same way: the form controls, and the account skips the will. Some accounts have one you set years ago; some have none, which may or may not be what you want.

Institution / account	Primary	Contingent	Last reviewed	Notes

When you're done: put a repeat on the calendar. The common guidance is to re-check these forms after any marriage, divorce, birth, or death, and every few years even without one. Forms drift out of date faster than wills. And make sure the forms and your will tell the same story; where they disagree, the form generally wins.

Beneficiaries are one of the five core documents. See where the other four stand: the free 3-minute Estate Gap Check → Then tell your people where everything lives: where to keep documents (and who needs access) →

Educational only, not legal, financial, or tax advice. We are not a law firm or attorneys. Rules vary by state and by plan type; a licensed attorney in your state can assess your specifics.