Updating Beneficiaries After Divorce in Arizona

Arizona's revocation-on-divorce statute sounds reassuring: once your decree is signed, your ex-spouse is automatically removed from your will, trust, and most beneficiary designations. But there's a critical exception that catches people every year — and it involves the accounts where the most money typically sits.

What Arizona Law Does Automatically

Under A.R.S. § 14-2804, the entry of a final Decree of Dissolution automatically revokes any disposition or appointment of property made to a former spouse in a "governing instrument." This covers:

• Last wills and testaments
• Living trusts
• Private (non-employer) life insurance policies
• Non-ERISA retirement plans
• Payable-on-death (POD) bank accounts

The statute also revokes your ex-spouse's nomination to serve as executor, trustee, conservator, healthcare proxy, or power of attorney agent. And it automatically severs joint tenancy with right of survivorship, converting it to tenancy in common.

For ASRS (Arizona State Retirement System) members, A.R.S. § 38-773(D)(1) goes further — it automatically nullifies an ex-spouse as a beneficiary the moment the divorce decree is entered. If you want to keep your ex as a beneficiary (because your decree requires it) or name someone new, you must submit a brand-new beneficiary form dated after the divorce.

The ERISA Exception: What the Statute Cannot Touch

Here's where it breaks down. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Egelhoff v. Egelhoff (532 U.S. 141) that federal ERISA law preempts state revocation-on-divorce statutes. This means employer-provided benefits governed by ERISA will still pay out to your ex-spouse if they remain the designated beneficiary — regardless of your divorce decree or Arizona law.

This applies to:

• Employer 401(k) plans
• 403(b) plans
• Employer pensions
• Group life insurance policies

If your ex-spouse is still listed as the beneficiary on your employer's 401(k) and you die without updating the designation, the plan administrator is legally required to pay your ex — even if your will says otherwise, even if your divorce decree allocated that account to you, and even if Arizona's revocation statute would have removed your ex from every other asset.

How to Update Every Beneficiary

Employer retirement plans (401(k), 403(b), pension): Contact your HR department or plan administrator directly. Submit a new beneficiary designation form naming your chosen beneficiary. Keep a copy of the completed form and the confirmation from the plan administrator.

Group life insurance: Same process — contact HR, submit a new beneficiary form. Many people forget this one because they think the divorce statute handles it.

ASRS: Submit a new beneficiary designation form to ASRS after the divorce date. Pre-divorce designations are automatically voided.

Private life insurance: Contact your insurance carrier. Arizona's statute technically revokes the ex-spouse designation, but submitting a new form eliminates any ambiguity and ensures the carrier has current instructions.

POD bank accounts: Visit your bank and update the payable-on-death designation. The statute revokes the old one, but banks don't always have a mechanism to enforce it automatically.

IRAs: Contact your custodian (Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard, etc.) and submit an updated beneficiary form. IRAs are not governed by ERISA, so the state statute applies — but updating the form directly is cleaner than relying on automatic revocation.

Don't Skip This Step

The gap between what people assume happens automatically and what actually happens is where estates get tangled in litigation. A 10-minute phone call to your HR department can prevent your ex-spouse from receiving a six-figure payout that was supposed to go to your children.

The Arizona After-Divorce Checklist includes a beneficiary audit worksheet that walks through every account type — ERISA and non-ERISA — with specific instructions for each one.

See more Arizona guides →