Update Beneficiaries After Divorce in Iowa: The ERISA Trap

Iowa's automatic revocation statutes are more protective than most states. Iowa Code § 598.20A voids your ex-spouse's designation on personal life insurance policies. Iowa Code § 598.20B does the same for IRAs, payable-on-death bank accounts, and transfer-on-death brokerage accounts. Iowa Code § 633.271 revokes will provisions benefiting your former spouse.

That sounds comprehensive. It isn't.

Where Iowa Law Can't Protect You

Every employer-sponsored plan — your workplace 401(k), group life insurance, accidental death coverage, and pension — is governed by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Under the federal preemption doctrine, ERISA completely overrides Iowa's automatic revocation statutes.

What this means in practice: if your ex-spouse is listed as beneficiary on your employer's group life insurance and you die, the insurance company must pay your ex. Your divorce decree, Iowa Code § 598.20A, and your new will are all legally irrelevant. The plan administrator is required by federal law to pay whoever is on the form.

This isn't a theoretical risk. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on it directly, and the ex-spouse wins every time.

The Update Priority List

Update Immediately (ERISA Plans — No State Protection)

Contact your employer's HR department and request new beneficiary forms for:

• Group life insurance: This is the most commonly missed one. Most employees don't even realize they have it — it was set up during onboarding years ago.
• 401(k) or 403(b): If you filed a QDRO to divide the account, that handles the division, but the remaining balance still needs a new beneficiary.
• Pension/defined benefit plan: Same issue — the QDRO addresses the alternate payee's share, not who gets your share if you die.
• AD&D (accidental death and dismemberment): Often bundled with life insurance but has a separate beneficiary form.

Ask HR to confirm in writing that the new designations have been processed. Some plans take weeks to formally update their records.

Update Promptly (State Law Helps, But Don't Rely on It)

• Personal life insurance policies: Iowa Code § 598.20A provides backup protection, but updating the form eliminates any ambiguity or litigation risk.
• IRAs: § 598.20B covers these, but contact your custodian and submit a new beneficiary form anyway. If you transferred a portion to your ex via a transfer incident to divorce, update the beneficiary on your remaining balance.
• Bank POD accounts: Visit your bank and remove your ex from payable-on-death designations.
• Brokerage TOD accounts: Contact your brokerage to update transfer-on-death designations.

Update When You Revise Your Estate Plan

• Will: § 633.271 automatically revokes provisions benefiting your ex, but it doesn't draft a replacement. Without a new will, your estate is governed by Iowa intestacy rules — which may not match your wishes.
• Revocable trust: Iowa Code § 633A.3107 automatically revokes trust provisions for the former spouse, but again, you need new documents.
• Powers of attorney and healthcare proxies: No automatic revocation applies to these. If your ex-spouse is still listed as your healthcare proxy or financial power of attorney, a hospital or bank may rely on those documents in an emergency.

Don't Forget IPERS

If you have an Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System pension, update your beneficiary designation using IPERS Form 171.8. This is separate from any QDRO dividing the pension — the QDRO addresses your ex-spouse's share, while the beneficiary form controls who receives death benefits from your share.

The Iowa After-Divorce Checklist includes a beneficiary audit worksheet that lists every account type, tracks which forms you've submitted, and flags the ERISA-governed plans that Iowa law cannot protect.

See more Iowa guides →