Are Beneficiary Designations Protected in Massachusetts?

Yes. Massachusetts automatically revokes an ex-spouse as beneficiary on divorce for these asset types: life insurance, retirement accounts, pod accounts, tod accounts, annuitiesM.G.L. c. 190B, § 2-804Verified Sep 15, 2026View source. An ERISA-governed employer plan (a 401(k), a pension) follows federal law instead and must be updated by hand whatever the state rule says.

Yes. The federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) preempts state law for an employer-sponsored plan such as a 401(k), a pension or group life insurance: the plan pays the designation on file with the plan administrator, and a qualified plan requires the spouse's consent to name anyone else (Egelhoff v. Egelhoff, 2001; Kennedy v. Plan Administrator, 2009). Massachusetts sets no spousal-consent requirement of its ownM.G.L. c. 191, § 15Verified Sep 15, 2026View source for an individual account.

Massachusetts gives inherited IRAs partial protection from creditorsM.G.L. c. 235, § 34AVerified Sep 15, 2026View source; the reach can depend on whether the IRA came from a spouse and whether the case is in state or federal court. After Clark v. Rameker (2014), federal bankruptcy law does not protect an inherited IRA on its own.

Yes. Massachusetts applies a per stirpes default to beneficiary designationsM.G.L. c. 190B, § 2-706; § 2-709Verified Sep 15, 2026View source: when a named beneficiary dies before the account holder, that beneficiary's share passes to their descendants rather than to the other named beneficiaries.