Updating Beneficiaries After Divorce in Connecticut

Connecticut law automatically revokes your ex-spouse from your will after divorce. It does not automatically revoke them from your 401(k), life insurance, or bank accounts. This gap has cost families hundreds of thousands of dollars — and the U.S. Supreme Court has confirmed that there is nothing state law can do about it.

Here is what you need to update manually, and why.

What Connecticut Law Does Automatically

Under CGS § 45a-257c, when a Connecticut divorce is finalized, the law automatically revokes:

• Any bequest or devise in your will that goes to your ex-spouse
• Any appointment of your ex-spouse as executor, trustee, conservator, or guardian
• Any power of appointment granted to your ex-spouse

Your ex-spouse is treated as though they predeceased you. You do not need to do anything for this automatic revocation to take effect.

What Connecticut Law Cannot Touch

Federal law preempts state law when it comes to employer-sponsored retirement plans and certain insurance products. This is the ERISA preemption rule, and the U.S. Supreme Court made it crystal clear in Egelhoff v. Egelhoff (2001).

In that case, a man updated his will after his divorce but forgot to change the beneficiary on his employer-sponsored life insurance and pension. When he died, Washington state law said the benefits should go to his children. The Supreme Court disagreed — ERISA required the plan administrator to pay the person named on the plan's beneficiary form, period. His ex-wife received everything.

This means the following assets will pay out to your ex-spouse if you do not manually update the beneficiary designation forms:

ERISA-governed employer plans:

• 401(k) accounts
• 403(b) accounts
• Employer-sponsored pension plans
• Employer group life insurance
• Employer group disability insurance

Non-probate contract assets:

• Individual life insurance policies (Connecticut does not automatically revoke life insurance beneficiaries upon divorce)
• Payable-on-death (POD) bank accounts
• Transfer-on-death (TOD) brokerage accounts
• Annuities

How to Update Each Type

Employer retirement plans (401(k), 403(b), pension): Contact your HR department or plan administrator and request a new Beneficiary Designation Form. Complete it, name your new beneficiary, and submit it directly to the plan. Keep a copy of the signed form.

Life insurance: Contact the insurance company's policyholder services. Request a Change of Beneficiary Form. Some insurers allow online changes; others require a notarized paper form. Confirm the change was processed by requesting written confirmation.

Bank accounts (POD): Visit your bank and request a new POD designation form. Remove your ex-spouse and name your new beneficiary.

Brokerage accounts (TOD): Contact your brokerage firm to update the TOD registration. Some firms require a new account agreement.

The Step-Relation Loophole in Wills

While CGS § 45a-257c revokes provisions favoring your ex-spouse, it does not revoke provisions favoring your ex-spouse's relatives. If your will names your former brother-in-law as a successor executor or your former stepchild as a contingent beneficiary, those provisions remain fully active.

The only fix is to execute a completely new will that formally revokes all prior wills and codicils. Do not assume the automatic statute covers everything.

Timing Matters

Update beneficiary designations as soon as your divorce is finalized. If you die before making the changes, your ex-spouse will legally receive the funds from any ERISA plan or non-probate contract asset where they are still named — regardless of what your will or divorce decree says.

The Connecticut After-Divorce Checklist includes a beneficiary update tracker covering every account type, with checkboxes for confirming each change was processed.

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