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THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, OCTObER 16, 2026 Page 17 Updating Your Beneficiary Designations T he importance of initially establishing proper beneficiary designations (and then periodically updating them) with respect to retirement plans, IRA accounts, life insurance policies, annuity policies, etc., cannot be overemphasized. If you have an IRA account that you established prior to getting married and you never get around to changing the beneficiary designations after you get married, if you subsequently die, your spouse will receive nothing. The original primary beneficiary will take all. If the primary beneficiary dies prior to you, the contingent beneficiary will take all. A life changing event such as a marriage or a divorce should prompt you to review all of your beneficiary designations. If you have an ERISA compliant retirement plan at work, however, most likely your spouse will be the primary beneficiary of the retirement plan even if you don’t get around to updating the beneficiary designation by naming your spouse as the primary beneficiary. With an ERISA compliant retirement plan, a spouse must consent in writing for you to name someone else as the primary beneficiary. Beneficiary designation mishaps are more common than one might think. In fact, they occur quite frequently. In many cases, there are no named beneficiaries and the IRA/ retirement plan proceeds or life insurance proceeds end up being paid to the estate of the deceased person passing to the heirs at law based upon the Massachusetts intestacy statute, assuming there was no valid Last Will and Testament. The ultimate takers may include individuals that the deceased would never have BEACON | FROM PAGE 16 ready home to thriving societies, cultures, governments, language and economies. Our commonwealth is home to sovereign tribal nations and Indigenous communities whose knowledge, leadership, stewardship, art, scholarship and advocacy shape Massachusetts today. They have protected this land, preserved its stories and insisted that we confront a history that has too often been erased or sanitized.” Comerford continued, “We must listen to them. We must learn from them. And we must honor them. We cannot do that while continuing to honor Christopher Columbus.” This year, Columbus Day is on October 13 so any name change, if approved, would have to wait until 2027 to take effect. $403,500 TO PROMOTE SPEwished to leave anything to. The lesson to be learned here is to give careful thought to your initial beneficiary designation form when completing it and remember to revisit the form every few years or so in order to update it if necessary based upon a change in marital status, family members or any other circumstances that would warrant making a change. You can select a primary beneficiary and a secondary beneficiary. You can also attach an exhibit to the form to be more detailed about who gets what upon your death. For example, you can leave a life insurance policy death benefit to your three children with instructions to pay the children of a deceased child (i.e. your grandchildren) in equal shares. We often refer to this as “by right of representation” or “per stirpes”. Most of the time, people completing beneficiary forms will choose a primary beneficiary and a contingent beneficiary. People don’t realize that you can actually attach a supplemental schedule to the pre-printed form that allows you to tailor your beneficiary designation selection to your own estate planning objectives. You do not necessarily have to restrict yourself to the “four corners” of the pre-printed form. Joseph D. Cataldo is an estate planning/elder law attorney, Certified Public Accountant, Certified Financial Planner, AICPA Personal Financial Specialist and holds a masters degree in taxation. CIALTY CROPS – The Healey Administration announced grants of $403,500 to six Massachusetts agricultural organizations to promote specialty crops to help local farms and producers bring more fresh fruits, dried fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture, to market. The measure is designed to help these local farms reach new customers and grow their businesses across the state. “Specialty crops set Massachusetts apart and are essential to the state’s agricultural identity,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper. “These grants are aimed at helping our specialty crop producers compete in a crowded marketplace – by funding projects that improve quality, expand marketing and create new opportunities for local businesses.” “Specialty crops represent an enormous and essential part of our agricultural economy, and the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) is committed to providing the resources necessary to scale their production and increase marketplace visibility,” said MDAR Commissioner Ashley Randle. “Through this critical federal-state partnership, we are equipping our growers and commodity associations with the tools needed to drive consumer sales, strengthen supply chains and secure the long-term economic sustainability of Massachusetts agriculture.” CANNABIS CONTROL COMMISSION (CCC) CELEBRATES TEN YEARS OF ADULT USE OF CANNABIS – The CCC kicked off a multimedia initiative to mark ten years of adult-use cannabis in Massachusetts. The commission offers insights into how the industry has become an economic force with hundreds of businesses that employ tens of thousands and has generated nearly $2 billion in state and local tax revenue. The initiative will include a dedicated webpage featuring economic data and a video capturing the highlights of the industry over the last decade. The public will also be able to view initiative materials via the agency’s Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and X pages. “After ten years, cannabis businesses are familiar, becoming part of everyday life in hundreds of communities across the state,” Commissioner Anthony Wilson said. “As a commissioner, I’m looking forward to shaping the next decade of the industry by working to improve and update our policies to support the growth of the industry and to protect health and safety, including the safety of workers in the industry and the safety of products available in the marketplace.” The initiative is launching just a few weeks before Bay State voters will vote on November 3 on a ballot question asking them if they favor repealing the law making recreational use of marijuana by adults legal. Some supporters of repealing the law say that the timing of the initiative is not coincidental and is designed to use state revenues, which fund the commission, to help defeat the ballot question. ELIMINATE THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE – A new poll shows 84 percent of Massachusetts voters support eliminating the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse, and that 67 percent say this should be a high priority for legislators. The poll was conducted for and released by the Bay State-based orBEACON | SEE PAGE 18 - LEGAL NOTICE - COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS LAND COURT DEPARTMENT OF THE TRIAL COURT 26 SM 003295 ORDER OF NOTICE To: Jeffrey M. McCabe and to all persons entitled to the benefit of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. c. 50 §3901 et seq.: Rocket Mortgage, LLC claiming to have an interest in a Mortgage covering real property in Everett, numbered 20 Cabot Street, given by Jeffrey M. McCabe to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as mortgagee, as nominee for Rocket Mortgage LLC, FKA Quicken Loans, LLC, dated March 9, 2022, and recorded at Middlesex County (Southern District) Registry of Deeds in Book 79822, Page 111, and now held by the plaintiff by assignment, has/have filed with this court a complaint for determination of Defendant’s/Defendants’ Servicemembers status. If you now are, or recently have been, in the active military service of the United States of America, then you may be entitled to the benefits of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. If you object to a foreclosure of the above mentioned property on that basis, then you or your attorney must file a written appearance and answer in this court at Three Pemberton Square, Boston, MA 02108 on or before November 30, 2026 or you will be forever barred from claiming that you are entitled to the benefits of said Act. Witness, GORDON H. PIPER Chief Justice of said Court on October 13, 2026. Attest: Deborah J. Patterson Recorder October 16, 2026

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