non-spouse IRA beneficiary
A client has transferred his IRA to our firm and we discovered he has no beneficiaries on it. If he is no longer contributing to his IRA , and all the contributions were made before he met his second wife, then gets married to this person, can he list his adult children as beneficiaries without a special sign off from his new wife?
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Fri, 2025-05-30 10:52
If the client lives in a common law state, they typically can name anyone as beneficiary. However, in community property states the spouse must sign a waiver to enable a non spouse to be named as beneficiary. Even if all contributions were made prior to the marriage, IRA custodians generally do not wish to be involved in a legal battle involving when contributions were made or if gains generated after the marriage are separate or community property. Of course, the IRA custodian may have exceptions to certain requirements regarding naming of beneficiaries, but none of them guarantee that there will not be litigation between the spouse and the children or the custodian if they pay the wrong beneficiary. It is preferable that the spouse be advised if not named as beneficiary so they do not find out post death.