A will says who gets the house. It often doesn't decide who gets your retirement accounts, your life insurance or your business. Those are controlled by beneficiary forms and business agreements, some of which you may have filled out years ago. In this episode, Darlene covers:

• Why beneficiary forms come first. They're direct instructions to the company holding the money, and they don't go through your will.
• Divorce. Depending on your state and the type of account, divorce may not remove an ex-spouse from your forms.
• Four common mistakes: leaving the beneficiary line blank, naming no contingent (backup) beneficiary, naming your estate, and naming a minor child directly.
• For business owners: what your operating agreement or buy-sell agreement says happens to your share, how the shares get valued, and whether there's money behind the agreement.
• If you're alive but unavailable. Financial powers of attorney, and who has authority on the business side.
• A yearly one-hour review: retirement accounts (including old ones), life insurance, bank account titles and transfer-on-death designations, business documents, and your will and powers of attorney. Review again after marriage, divorce, a birth, a death or a new business partner. Make sure someone knows where to find everything.