More on the Importance of Naming Beneficiaries by Richard Cayne Meyer Thailand

Establishing foundations and trusts is an essential part of anyone’s estate planning strategy. However, many investment vehicles also have trust facilities built-in to their structure that you should keep in mind. “When sorting through your investments, mutual funds and insurance policies, it’s vital that you name a beneficiary”, says Richard Meyer Cayne of Meyer International and Asia Wealth Group in Bangkok, Thailand. “Even if you have a comprehensive and established will, they are a critical part of your estate plans.”

Don’t forget to name beneficiaries!

When most of us think of beneficiaries, we imagine the people who will ultimately glean inheritance from our life insurance policies and wills. This, however, is not the only time you need to name beneficiaries. Almost any financial instrument one can think off could potentially offer a beneficiary facility as part of its package.

This means investment funds, pension plans, bank accounts. Many or all of these may have a section in the forms asking you to name a beneficiary. More often than not, people will simply fill this out once (or even worse, not at all) and then never think about it again. They often assume that the instructions of their will covers the distribution of these assets. Ultimately, shouldn’t the words “I leave all my assets to my children” cover these?

Sadly, not always. The heirs to your will may have to go through a tedious and arduous process, even with a certified will, depending on the jurisdiction involved and the financial institution.

When no beneficiary is named – a real-life example

A Canadian citizen retired in Japan, where he ultimately passed away. While he’d bequeathed his assets in Japan to his sister, he had failed to specify any offshore investment account. Upon further investigation, it came to light that as a result of this, there was no one named as a beneficiary to that account. Furthermore, the financial institution wasn’t even notified, as his sister was unaware of the account and technically not listed in the will.

Thankfully, the deceased gentleman in question had been a client of Meyer International, and as such, they did their due diligence in finding the sister and making her aware of the financial situation. While we had strongly urged this particular client to name a beneficiary or beneficiaries in writing upon opening this account, as part of his broader investment strategy, he declined to so, thinking he was in good health and in no rush to make final arrangements.

Thankfully, Meyer International was able to step in and right the situation when, sadly, something like this did, indeed, happen. Ultimately, we made sure that his sister received the assets her brother intended for her to have, despite his unfortunately shortsighted strategy towards deciding on how to plan his will. What made the process all the more arduous is that, because he chose not to name her in writing as a beneficiary to that account, we subsequently had to endure a lengthy and complicated process, compounded even further by the fact that multiple countries were involved.

Review your investments and make sure everything is filled out

So what’s the moral of the story? Make sure to fill out ALL of the beneficiary sections on your accounts and be sure to make this a paramount aspect of the planning and review process for your estate and business interests . Not every financial professional is going to look out for you like the good people at Meyer International, and you may find yourself in a situation where your loved ones are not taken care of the way you had hoped.

So where should you start? A trusted financial expert like Richard Meyer Cayne is here to help you with all your estate planning needs. He’ll make sure all of your beneficiaries are taken care of exactly as you see fit.

Richard Meyer Cayne Thailand

Richard Meyer Cayne born Montreal, Quebec Canada, currently resides in Bangkok, Thailand is the Managing Director of the Meyer Group of Companies www.meyerjapan.com. 

Prior to this, he resided in Tokyo, Japan for over 15 years and is currently the CEO of Asia Wealth Group Holdings Ltd, a London, UK Stock Exchange-listed Financial Holdings Company and the Meyer Group. Richard has been involved in wealth management planning solutions, financial planning and asset management in Asia for over 25 years and while living in Tokyo, Japan, he assisted many high net-worth Japanese families create innovative international tax and wealth management planning solutions. The financial holding public company of which he is CEO can be seen at Asia Wealth Group Holdings Ltd or the stock exchange link: https://www.aquis.eu/aquis-stock-exchange/member?securityidaqse=AWLP Asia Wealth Group Holdings Ltd – Richard Cayne Thailand. Meyer Asset Management Ltd has been in the wealth management space since March 2000 and uses fundamental analysis along with modern portfolio theory. Richard Cayne, Bangkok Thailand