Q: If you're not married, would it be best to name a parent or minor child as a beneficiary to a retirement plan?

A: I would encourage you to speak with a Florida Estate Planning Attorney and consider possibly creating a Revocable Trust, the options you have mentioned are problematic because of your dad's second marriage and because your son is so young. If anything happened to you it is likely that your estate and any and all assets would be controlled by a created trust or guardian that would need to be established, if the assets go to your dad, then he can do as he wishes with it and the second marriage is always a potential problem possibly. At minimal you want to do your own proper estate planning with a Will, Power of Attorney and other documents including a Trust clearly establishing what you want and who should get what in the event that you pass away, but also who should make decisions if you become incapacitated.

A: You should work with an estate planning attorney to prepare a last will and testament with a testamentary trust for minors built into the will. Then with the attorney's guidance, you can designate the testamentary trust in the will as the beneficiary of the retirement account, so that if you passed away before your child reached adulthood, the funds would come into a trust to be administered by a trustee of your choice for the benefit of the child and then your child would receive the remainder when they reached a certain age of your choice. This is better than designating your father as your beneficiary.