How to Update Beneficiaries After Divorce in Louisiana

If you die tomorrow with your ex-spouse still listed as beneficiary on your 401(k), your retirement savings go to your ex — even if your divorce decree says otherwise. This is not a hypothetical. It is federal law, and it catches thousands of divorced people every year.

Louisiana enacted Act 94 in 2024 to automatically revoke ex-spouse beneficiary designations, but federal ERISA preemption creates a massive exception that makes manual updates non-negotiable for the most valuable accounts.

Which Accounts Are Affected

Not all beneficiary-designated accounts follow the same rules. The distinctions matter:

ERISA-governed accounts (federal law controls):

• 401(k) plans
• 403(b) plans
• Group life insurance through your employer
• Corporate pensions

Non-ERISA accounts (Louisiana law may apply):

• Individual life insurance policies
• IRAs and Roth IRAs
• Annuities
• Pay-on-death (POD) bank accounts

The ERISA Preemption Trap

Under the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Egelhoff v. Egelhoff, federal ERISA law strictly preempts all state laws that attempt to automatically revoke ex-spouse beneficiary designations on employer-sponsored retirement plans. This means Louisiana's Act 94 (La. R.S. 9:2449.1) has zero effect on your 401(k), 403(b), or group life insurance.

The plan administrator is legally required to pay whoever is listed on the beneficiary form on file — period. A waiver in your divorce decree, a state revocation statute, even a new will naming someone else: none of these override the beneficiary form that your plan administrator holds.

The only way to redirect these assets is to submit a new beneficiary designation form directly to each plan administrator.

Louisiana's Automatic Revocation (Limited Scope)

For non-ERISA assets, Louisiana's Act 94 (effective August 1, 2024) provides some automatic protection:

• La. R.S. 22:911.1 automatically revokes ex-spouse beneficiary designations on Louisiana-issued life insurance policies — but only for designations made after August 1, 2024
• La. R.S. 9:2449.1 extends similar automatic revocation to certain other non-ERISA financial accounts

For designations made before August 1, 2024, the old rule applies: you must manually update each beneficiary form yourself.

Even where the automatic revocation applies, filing updated forms is still the safest practice. Relying on an automatic statute when a five-minute form update eliminates all ambiguity is an unnecessary risk.

The Update Checklist

Go through every account where you have named a beneficiary:

For each account, request a change-of-beneficiary form, complete it with your new designated beneficiary (or beneficiaries), and submit it. Keep a copy of every submitted form.

What Happens If You Do Nothing

If you die without updating your 401(k) beneficiary and your ex-spouse is still listed, the plan administrator will pay your entire retirement balance to your ex-spouse. Your current partner, your children, your parents — none of them have a legal claim. The divorce decree is irrelevant. This is the direct consequence of ERISA preemption, confirmed by the Supreme Court.

Next Steps

Beneficiary updates are one piece of a broader estate planning overhaul after divorce that includes redrafting your will, revoking powers of attorney, and updating pay-on-death designations. The Louisiana After-Divorce Checklist covers the full list with specific forms and agency contacts.

See more Louisiana guides →