Is spousal consent required when naming beneficiaries on an IRA?
There are currently eight community property states and one marital property state with laws that can impact the rights of a married IRA owner when designating primary beneficiaries other than or in addition to their spouse.
Typically, if a married individual resides in or has an IRA account housed in a community or marital property state, they must generally receive the written consent of their spouse before designating someone other than their spouse as a primary beneficiary.
If an IRA owner’s spouse does not consent to the IRA owner naming other beneficiaries and the laws of one of the community or marital property states apply, then upon the owner's death, the spouse may be entitled to a portion of the IRA assets.
The following states have laws in place:
- Arizona
- California
- Idaho
- Louisiana
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- Texas
- Washington
- Wisconsin (marital property state)
*Alaska, South Dakota, and Tennessee have elective community property laws