A finished FIN-440 Topic 2 instrument and purpose matrix example, pairing seven instruments with a divorced parent's four purposes and finding two beneficiary forms that defeat the plan. Searches like "fin 440 topic 2 assignment example", "fin440 topic 2 sample" and "fin-440 topic 2 example" land here.
What a finished FIN-440 Topic 2 instrument and purpose matrix looks like
Each cell of the finished matrix says what one instrument can do for one purpose, what it cannot and the limit that bites. The four purposes are already settled: money managed until each child turns 25, a named guardian, a decision-maker during incapacity and no control over the funds by the former spouse. The will can nominate the parent's sister as guardian and create a trust, yet it cannot move a dollar of the 500,000 life policy or the 250,000 401(k). A durable power of attorney ends at death. A custodial account under state law hands money over at an age the statute fixes. A revocable trust named as policy beneficiary meets the management purpose. Then the forms are read, and they undo the grid: the 401(k) still names the former spouse, and the policy names both children outright.
How a FIN-440 Topic 2 example is structured
A grid comes first and a reading of the actual forms follows beneath it. A short case section restates the four purposes from the opening topic and lists the illustrative assets, a 900,000 total made up of the policy, the 401(k) and 150,000 of home equity. Instruments run down the side of the matrix and purposes across the top, and each cell is a sentence rather than a check mark. Below it, a limits section takes the instruments one at a time and names the boundary that matters for this family, such as a nominated guardian not usually displacing a fit surviving parent. The forms section reads the actual beneficiary designations and shows where they defeat the matrix. A consequences paragraph traces what the children would receive if the parent died tomorrow. The example ends by pairing each purpose with the instrument, or combination, that meets it.
Cells written as sentences, not ticks
Each cell says what an instrument can accomplish for one purpose and where it stops, so the grid displays limits as well as uses.
A will that cannot reach the policy
The will can nominate a guardian and create a trust, but the insurance and the 401(k) pass under their own forms and never enter it.
Guardian of the person, trustee of the money
Separating the two roles lets the sister manage the children's funds even if the former spouse, as surviving parent, keeps custody of them.
A designation that predates the divorce
The 401(k) form still names the former spouse, and because federal law governing employer plans can override a state revocation rule, only a new form fixes it.
Children named outright on the policy
Minors cannot take 500,000 directly, so the proceeds would go to a court-supervised arrangement or a custodianship ending at an age set by statute.
Where marks go in FIN-440 Topic 2
The deduction that recurs most is a matrix marking every instrument as able to do everything, which is recitation and not matching. Papers that place the will at the center of the plan and never read the beneficiary forms miss that 750,000 of this parent's 900,000 moves outside it. Assuming a divorce automatically removes a former spouse from a 401(k) states a rule that federal law may not follow for employer plans. Treating the nominated guardian as certain to raise the children overlooks the surviving parent's standing. Naming minors directly on a policy counts as a planning error, because it hands the money to a court process or to an age the parent never chose. Instruments described with no limit attached leave a reader unable to see why a combination is needed at all.
Get a FIN-440 Topic 2 example written to your instructions
Send the FIN-440 Topic 2 instructions and your classroom rubric, with the family facts or case your section provides. We write a custom example to them, with each instrument matched to a stated purpose, its limits named, beneficiary forms read against the will and the roles of guardian and trustee kept apart, in 24 to 48 hours. The first one is free.
FIN-440 Topic 2 questions, answered
Does a will control life insurance and retirement accounts?
Generally not. Life insurance, 401(k) plans and IRAs pay whoever the beneficiary form names, and they do so outside probate whatever the will says. The will reaches them only if the form names the estate or names nobody who survives. That is why the matrix reads the forms before pairing any purpose with an instrument, and why a correct will can still leave a family surprised.
How does a guardian differ from a trustee?
A guardian of the person makes decisions about a child's care, schooling and daily life. A trustee manages money held in trust under the trust's written terms. The roles can be given to different people, which helps when the person best suited to raise the children is not the one best suited to manage funds, or when a surviving parent would otherwise control both.
Should I change my own beneficiary forms after reading this?
The example cannot say. The parent, the former spouse and the assets are composites, and whether a designation, a trust or a custodial account fits a real family depends on state law, plan rules and tax consequences the example leaves out. Those are matters for a licensed estate planning attorney and a qualified tax adviser. The matrix is FIN-440 coursework and offers no legal or financial advice.