State laws removing ex-spouse as beneficiary

Please advise which 25 states have statutes on the books to revoke beneficiary designations upon divorce for IRA’s and life insurance policies.



The more important question would probably be which of those statutes have been upheld in court when challenged.  I can’t think of any.  It’s always best to update a beneficiary designation as soon as possible to avoid conflicts or confustion after the IRA owner passes.

The Supreme Court recently upheld such a statute in Sveen v. Melin (June 11, 2018):  https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-1432_7j8b.pdf. 

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