Roadmap to retirement: When your family status changes

Private retirement plans typically have provisions relating to benefits payable to a spouse, former spouse, or a named beneficiary at death or divorce. These provisions may differ depending on the type of plan. It is important to notify the administrator of your plan of any change in your family status since this can determine the form of benefit you or your spouse or former spouse will receive. 

Information about survivor benefits for spouses and beneficiaries

Benefits for married employees in traditional pension plans must include survivor benefits for spouses, unless both the employee and spouse agree to give up the right to survivor benefits. These protections apply whether the employee dies before or after retirement.

In 401(k)-type plans, a spouse will receive the money in the employee’s account if the employee dies while working in a job covered by the plan, unless the spouse gives up this protection. There are no survivor protections for spouses once an employee leaves work covered by a plan.

Unmarried employees usually must name a beneficiary to receive the money in a 401(k) account in case the employee dies before leaving employment. If no beneficiary is named, the plan will pay benefits in accordance with plan rules.

• What You Should Know About Your Retirement Plan (Department of Labor (DOL)). Spouse benefits are discussed in Chapter 4.  
• Spousal Protections In Pensions And Other Retirement Plans (Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER))
• Technical Guidelines - Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity Requirements (Internal Revenue Service (IRS))
• Qualified Pre-Retirement Survivor Annuity (QPSA) (IRS)
  
• Qualified Preretirement Survivor Annuity (QPSA) Notice (IRS)
• Beneficiary Designation Form (IRS)
• Automatically Revoking Beneficiary Designations on Legal Separation Can Lead to Plan Errors (IRS)

The division of retirement benefits at divorce

• What You Should Know About Your Retirement Plan: Chapter 9: Potential Claims against Your Benefit (Divorce) (DOL)\
• I'm Getting Divorced: What is a Qualified Domestic Relations Order and Why Should I Care? (PRC)
• QDROs: The Division of Retirement Benefits Through Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (DOL)
• QRDOs: Drafting QDROs FAQs (DOL)
• Pension Rights After Divorce (Pension Rights Center, PRC)
• 7 Key Questions You Need To Ask BEFORE Your Divorce Is Finalized (WISER)
• Divorce, A Time For Caution (WISER)
• Pensions And Divorce (WISER)
• Divorce and Retirement: How to Take Control of Retirement Benefits (WISER)
• Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)). This describes the requirements for divorce court orders that are filed with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

Jump to other sections of Roadmap to retirement

• General information about planning for retirement
• Starting a job
• Participating in a retirement plan
• While you are working
• Switching jobs or retiring
• When your employer or plan changes