Changing IRA bene while still married
From the reading I found and the custodians own beneficiary form, it looks like an IRA owner can change the beneficiary from their spouse to someone else without written consent of their spouse, unless they live in a community property state, in which case, written consent must be signed by the spouse to disinherit them. Is this correct? I have a client in NC (not a community property state) that is currently married but wants to change the IRA beneficiary from his wife to his two daughters. Does he have to have the wife’s signature for consent to be able to make this change?
Josh Self
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Thu, 2016-05-05 19:01
Not in NC, since it is not a CP state. That said, if the couple moved from a CP state to NC or any common law state, a given IRA custodian might still want the waiver signed since CP property generally remains as such when moving into a common law state.