AIP Professional Series · Chapter 7 of 11 · Asset Review

Asset Inventory and Beneficiary Designation Review

The audit that ensures the estate plan actually accomplishes the client's goals

Beneficiary AuditTitling ReviewDigital Assets

Coordination Is Everything

A Well-Drafted Plan Is Ineffective If the Assets Pass Outside It

The asset inventory and beneficiary designation review ensures the estate plan actually accomplishes the client's goals. A beautifully drafted will and trust are ineffective if the client's major assets pass outside the estate through beneficiary designations or joint tenancy provisions inconsistent with the plan. Identifying those assets, documenting their ownership structure, and flagging issues for the attorney is one of the most valuable contributions the estate planning paralegal makes.

The most common problem: Many clients have beneficiary designations set years or decades ago that have never been reviewed. Those designations may name an ex-spouse, a deceased parent, a minor child who would need a guardian to receive the funds, or no contingent beneficiary at all. The audit finds these before they cause harm.

Beneficiary Designation Audit — Five Asset Types

IRAs and Roth IRAs. Primary and contingent beneficiaries — flag if naming the estate, a minor child, or a deceased person.

Employer-sponsored plans. 401(k), 403(b), pension — note spousal consent requirements for non-spouse designations.

Life insurance. Primary and contingent beneficiaries — confirm policy ownership and estate tax exposure.

Payable-on-death bank accounts. Current POD designations — may conflict with the will or trust plan.

Transfer-on-death brokerage accounts. Current TOD designations — same coordination issue as POD accounts.

The paralegal's role: Document what exists and flag apparent inconsistencies with the client's stated goals. Whether a specific designation is appropriate — whether the trust should be named as IRA beneficiary, whether a child should be named directly or through the trust — is a planning question for the attorney.

Titling Review and Digital Assets

Joint tenancy with right of survivorship assets pass to the surviving owner at death regardless of what the will provides. A client who wants their residence to pass into the revocable trust must change the title from joint tenancy to individual ownership first — then deed it to the trust. The paralegal confirms current titling against the deed and flags inconsistencies for attorney review.

Digital assets — cryptocurrency, valuable online accounts, digital files with financial value — require documentation of their existence and access credentials. The paralegal helps the client understand the importance of documenting access in a secure location and flags whether the plan addresses digital assets.

Ready-to-Use Prompts

Adapt these for your practice. Click Copy to paste into any AI tool.

Beneficiary Designation Audit Summary

I have completed a beneficiary designation audit for [client description]. Please help me prepare a summary table organizing the findings for attorney review. For each asset type — IRAs, Roth IRAs, employer plans, life insurance, POD accounts, TOD accounts — the table should show: asset description, financial institution, current primary beneficiary, current contingent beneficiary, apparent consistency with stated planning goals, and issues to flag for attorney review. I will add the specific findings.

Post-Execution Trust Funding Checklist

Please help me develop a trust funding coordination checklist for a client who has executed a revocable trust in [state]. The checklist should cover: real property (deed preparation and recording steps), financial accounts (retitling process and required documentation), retirement accounts and life insurance (beneficiary designation coordination as directed by the attorney — specify changes), vehicles (title transfer process), and digital assets (documentation approach). Include tracking columns for completion status and confirmation date. I will verify all state-specific requirements.

Chapter Quiz

Asset Inventory and Beneficiary Designation Review

5 questions — no limit on attempts.