Are Beneficiary Designations Protected in Montana?

Yes. Montana automatically revokes an ex-spouse as beneficiary on divorce for these asset types: life insurance, retirement accounts, pod accounts, tod accounts, annuitiesMCA § 72-2-814Verified 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). Montana sets no spousal-consent requirement of its own for an individual account.

Montana provides no specific creditor protection for inherited IRAsMCA § 25-13-608Verified 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. Montana applies a per stirpes default to beneficiary designationsMCA § 72-2-716Verified 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.