Change Beneficiary After Divorce in Utah

Utah has one of the broader automatic-revocation statutes in the country. Under Utah Code § 75-2-804, when the final divorce decree is entered, your ex-spouse is treated as if they predeceased you for the purpose of most beneficiary designations and fiduciary appointments. That covers wills, revocable trusts, powers of attorney, joint tenancy (automatically converted to tenancy in common), and payable-on-death bank accounts.

That sounds comprehensive. It is not.

The ERISA Exception

Employer-sponsored plans governed by federal ERISA law — such as private 401(k)s, 403(b)s, group life insurance, and private pensions — are subject to federal preemption of state revocation statutes. The U.S. Supreme Court established this in Egelhoff v. Egelhoff (532 U.S. 141, 2001): plan administrators must pay benefits to whoever is named on the beneficiary designation form on file, even if that person is your ex-spouse.

This means if you die without updating your employer life insurance beneficiary form, the plan administrator is legally required to pay your ex. Utah Code § 75-2-804 cannot override that. In Hillman v. Maretta (2013), the Supreme Court held that FEGLIA's federal rules also preempted a state-court lawsuit seeking to recover distributed life-insurance proceeds from an ex-spouse.

The fix is simple but manual: submit updated beneficiary designation forms directly to every plan administrator as soon as the divorce is final.

What Gets Automatically Revoked

Under § 75-2-804, these designations are revoked by operation of law upon divorce:

• Wills: Bequests to your former spouse and their relatives are treated as if the ex-spouse died first.
• Revocable trusts: Your ex is removed as a beneficiary and from any fiduciary role (trustee, successor trustee).
• Powers of attorney: Financial and healthcare powers of attorney naming your ex are revoked.
• Joint tenancy: Automatically converts to tenancy in common (no right of survivorship).
• Payable-on-death (POD) bank accounts: Your ex's beneficiary designation is revoked under state law.

What You Must Update Manually

Despite the automatic revocation, relying on the statute alone is risky. Here's what you need to actively update:

Private employer-sponsored plans (ERISA-governed):

• 401(k) and 403(b) beneficiary forms
• Group life insurance beneficiary forms
• Employer pension beneficiary forms
• Any deferred compensation plan beneficiary forms

Contact your HR department or the plan administrator directly. Most plans have a beneficiary change form you can complete immediately.

POD and TOD accounts: While § 75-2-804 revokes the designation as a matter of state law, the statute explicitly shields financial institutions from liability if they pay out to the named ex-spouse before receiving formal written notice of the divorce. In practice, this means your bank might pay your ex before anyone can object. Update the account directly — close it and open a new one, or execute a new signature card with updated beneficiary designations.

Healthcare directives: A medical provider who hasn't been informed of the divorce may still rely on an advance health care directive naming your ex as your healthcare agent. Execute a new directive and ensure your medical providers have a copy on file.

Guardianship designations for minor children: If your will named your ex (or your ex's relatives) as guardians for your children, those designations need to be replaced. Draft a new will with updated guardianship provisions.

The Estate Planning Checklist

After a divorce, the minimum estate planning updates are:

1. New will with updated beneficiaries and guardianship designations
2. New revocable trust (if applicable) with your ex removed
3. New financial power of attorney
4. New advance health care directive
5. Updated beneficiary forms for every ERISA-governed plan
6. Updated POD/TOD designations on all financial accounts
7. Review of any existing irrevocable trusts (these may require court action to modify)

These updates have no statutory deadline, but completing them before the next tax season is a useful target. The automatic-revocation statute provides a safety net, not a permanent plan.

The Complete Workflow

Beneficiary and estate planning updates are part of a broader post-divorce administrative sequence that includes name changes, property transfers, and retirement divisions. The Utah After-Divorce Checklist covers every beneficiary form that needs updating, organized in the order they should be completed.

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