What is a beneficiary?
A beneficiary is a person, charity or organisation entitled to receive something from a will, trust, pension or insurance policy. A beneficiary may inherit a specific item, a fixed cash sum, a share of the residue, or a benefit held on trust for them.
Not all beneficiaries have the same rights. A residuary beneficiary can generally require the estate accounts; a beneficiary of a specific gift usually cannot. A beneficiary of a discretionary trust has no entitlement at all — only a hope that the trustees exercise their discretion in their favour.
Critically, pension and life policy beneficiaries are not determined by your will. They follow the scheme nomination or the policy trust. An out-of-date nomination overrides the most carefully drafted will every time.
Naming beneficiaries precisely — full names, relationships, and what happens if one predeceases you — prevents most inheritance disputes before they start.