Are Beneficiary Designations Protected in Minnesota?

Yes. Minnesota automatically revokes an ex-spouse as beneficiary on divorce for these asset types: life insurance, retirement accounts, pod accounts, tod accounts, annuitiesMinn. Stat. § 524.2-804Verified 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). Minnesota sets no spousal-consent requirement of its own for an individual account.

Minnesota gives inherited IRAs partial protection from creditorsMinn. Stat. § 550.37 subd. 24Verified 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.

No. Minnesota does not default to per stirpes for beneficiary designations: when a named beneficiary dies before the account holder, the share lapses unless the designation says per stirpes or names a contingent beneficiary.