Are Beneficiary Designations Protected in New Mexico?

Yes. New Mexico automatically revokes an ex-spouse as beneficiary on divorce for these asset types: life insurance, retirement accounts, pod accounts, tod accounts, annuitiesNMSA § 45-2-804Verified 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.

New Mexico is a community property state, but it does not require a spouse's consent to name a non-spouse beneficiaryNMSA §§ 40-3-13, 40-3-14Verified Sep 15, 2026View source: each spouse manages their own community property, and the other spouse's claim to half of a community-funded asset is raised after death rather than through a consent form. 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).

New Mexico gives inherited IRAs partial protection from creditorsNMSA § 42-10-1Verified 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. New Mexico applies a per stirpes default to beneficiary designationsNMSA § 45-2-706Verified 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.