Estate Plan After Divorce: What to Update and What Changes Automatically

Most people assume divorce automatically removes their ex-spouse from everything. In some cases, state law does exactly that. In others — particularly with employer-sponsored retirement accounts — your ex-spouse stays listed as the beneficiary until you manually change it. Understanding the difference can prevent a six-figure mistake.

What Alaska Law Changes Automatically

Under Alaska Statute § 13.12.804 (part of the Uniform Probate Code), the entry of a final divorce decree automatically revokes any revocable disposition or appointment naming your former spouse. The law treats your ex — and their relatives who are no longer related to you — as if they legally predeceased you on the exact date the decree was signed.

This automatic revocation covers:

• Last wills and testaments
• Revocable trust distributions and trustee appointments
• Traditional and Roth IRAs (non-employer accounts)
• Privately purchased life insurance policies and annuity contracts
• Payable-on-death (POD) and transfer-on-death (TOD) bank and brokerage accounts

When the statute kicks in, whatever you designated as the contingent or alternate beneficiary takes over. If you never named an alternate, the asset passes through your estate under intestacy rules.

The ERISA Exception That Overrides State Law

Here is where people get burned. Federal ERISA law governs employer-sponsored retirement plans — 401(k)s, 403(b)s, group life insurance, and employer pensions. ERISA completely preempts state law, including AS § 13.12.804.

This means: even though Alaska law automatically revokes your ex from your personal will and IRA, your employer's 401(k) and group life insurance still list your ex-spouse as the beneficiary. The only way to change it is to log into your employer benefits portal and manually submit new beneficiary designation forms.

If you die without updating these forms, your ex-spouse receives the full payout. Your current partner, your children, your estate plan — none of it matters. The beneficiary designation form on file with the plan administrator controls, and federal courts have consistently upheld this outcome.

The Documents to Update

Will: Even though AS § 13.12.804 automatically revokes provisions naming your ex, draft and execute a new will. The automatic revocation removes ambiguity on paper, but a freshly executed document eliminates any potential challenge. Name new beneficiaries, update your executor, and revise any guardianship provisions for minor children.

Revocable trust: If you have a living trust, amend it to remove your ex-spouse as beneficiary or successor trustee. Appoint a new successor trustee. Review which assets are titled in the trust's name — you may need to retitle property after the divorce transfers.

Power of attorney: Your existing durable financial power of attorney likely names your ex-spouse as your agent. Revoke it in writing and execute a new one naming someone you trust. Notify any financial institutions that held a copy of the old POA.

Healthcare directive and HIPAA authorization: Revoke any documents naming your ex as your healthcare agent. Execute a new advance directive naming a new decision-maker. Update your HIPAA authorization so your ex no longer has access to your medical records.

Employer beneficiary designations: Log into your HR benefits portal and update the primary and contingent beneficiaries on every plan — 401(k), pension, group life insurance, AD&D, HSA. Print or screenshot the confirmation pages as proof.

The Order of Operations

1. Update employer beneficiary designations immediately — this is the highest-risk item because state law cannot protect you
2. Execute new will, POA, and healthcare directive
3. Update IRA and personal insurance beneficiaries (protected by state law but cleaner with explicit new designations)
4. Update POD/TOD designations on bank and brokerage accounts
5. Review and amend any revocable trust

The Alaska After-Divorce Checklist includes an estate plan audit worksheet that tracks every document, account, and beneficiary designation requiring an update.

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