Why Beneficiary Designations Override Your Will

In the US, if your bank, retirement account, or brokerage's Web site or account setup process suggested that you name a beneficiary, that was probably a "beneficiary designation."

Those beneficiaries supercede whatever is in your will (if you have one).

Here's a rough summary that is not legal advice:

Pros of using a beneficiary designation: The account contents don't need to go through probate before being distributed. There may be some tax benefits for the recipients.

Cons: Because named beneficiaries are account-specific and retained by the bank (not centrally like a will), it's easy to forget to update them.

Either way, it's worth considering (a) for a given account, am I using a beneficiary designation or a will/probate, and (b) are the beneficiaries current?