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Does divorce revoke a life insurance beneficiary?

Does divorce revoke a life insurance beneficiary?

Almost all states revoke a spouse’s status as a beneficiary when couples divorce, but the rules are more varied when it comes to life insurance policies and retirement plans. In fact, a divorcing spouse can designate a new beneficiary and even redesignate a former spouse if state law revokes such designations.

Is an ex-spouse next of kin?

Next of Kin Defined Your next of kin relatives are your children, parents, and siblings, or other blood relations. Since next of kin describes a blood relative, a spouse doesn’t fall into that definition. Still, if you have a surviving spouse, they are first in line to inherit your estate if you die without a will.

Can a former spouse receive a death benefit?

On the death of the person who made the beneficiary designation, the former spouse will receive the death benefit. You must take the additional step of revoking or changing the designation of your former spouse as beneficiary of such accounts, assets, and plans.

Can a beneficiary be revoked after a divorce?

Maretta, state laws that automatically void beneficiary designations upon divorce may not be binding on administrators, particularly if the account or policy is governed by federal rules. Former spouses must revoke these designations to ensure that benefits will not be paid to an ex-spouse upon death.

Can a retired spouse still be a beneficiary of a retirement plan?

If each state is allowed to impose their own laws, it would be impossible to administer retirement plans of this type. As a result, federal law controls, and the last named beneficiary will receive all of the retirement plan proceeds regardless of whether the beneficiary is still married to the decedent.

Who was the last beneficiary of a retirement plan?

Because Mr. Egelhoff’s former spouse was the last named beneficiary of the retirement plan account, the plan administrator paid all of the retirement plan proceeds to her. Mr. Egelhoff’s children from a prior marriage sued the former Mrs. Egelhoff to recover the $46,000 of retirement plan benefits that was paid to her.

Can a former spouse be a beneficiary on a life insurance policy?

To avoid situations where ex-spouses incidentally benefit from policies of their deceased former spouses, many states have enacted laws that automatically revoke the ex-spouse as the beneficiary on the life insurance policy following divorce. These laws were designed to prevent conflict among families and limit litigation over disputed policies.

When is a death benefit payable to a former spouse?

The Basic Employee Death Benefit may be payable to a former spouse (in whole or in part), if a qualifying court order, awarding a benefit, is on file at OPM and the former spouse was married to the deceased for a total of at least nine months and did not remarry before reaching age 55.

Can a former spouse change the beneficiary of an IRA?

It depends. Generally, divorce does not effectively change a beneficiary designation unless the divorce decree makes a stipulation to change it. It could be argued that the individual retirement account (IRA) owner wants the former spouse to remain the beneficiary of this IRA.

Who is the beneficiary of a retirement account after a divorce?

Based upon this law, Mr. Egelhoff’s children claimed that state law automatically revoked Donna Egelhoff as the beneficiary of the retirement account when their divorce was final. As a result, the children should receive the retirement account and not the former spouse.