Are Beneficiary Designations Protected in Michigan?

Yes. Michigan automatically revokes an ex-spouse as beneficiary on divorce for these asset types: life insurance, retirement accounts, pod accounts, tod accounts, annuitiesMCL 700.2807Verified 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). Michigan sets no spousal-consent requirement of its own for an individual account.

Michigan provides no specific creditor protection for inherited IRAsMCL 600.6023Verified Sep 15, 2026View source. After Clark v. Rameker (2014) held that federal bankruptcy law does not protect an inherited IRA, a state without its own statute leaves it exposed in bankruptcy.

Yes. Michigan applies a per stirpes default to beneficiary designationsMCL 700.2709Verified 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.