
22 May What happens to this IRA if my daughter gets a divorce?
Photo: pixabay.comQ. My daughter and her husband may be getting a divorce. I had her as my IRA beneficiary with him as a secondary one. If they divorce and I remove him, is there anything he can do about it? Will it count against her as an asset in their divorce?
— Mom
A. We’re sorry to hear things aren’t working out for your daughter.
You have some options to protect the funds.
If you named your daughter as a beneficiary for your IRA and her husband as a secondary beneficiary, and they then divorce, and you remove him as a beneficiary, there is nothing he can do about that, said Jeralyn Lawrence, a family law attorney with Lawrence Law in Watchung.
You are free to name whoever you chose as a beneficiary and revoke it as well, she said.
Lawrence said being named as a beneficiary of an IRA is not an asset that would be relevant or includable in the marital estate for purposes of equitable distribution in a divorce. The asset does not exist as it has not been monetized and as such, it would not impact equitable distribution, she said.
Even if you were to die and the IRA was then distributed to your daughter, it would be immune from equitable distribution, she said.
“There are scenarios however, depending on the amount of the inheritance, even if not subject to equitable distribution, it may become relevant,” she said. “If it is a modest asset divorce and the IRA is millions of dollars, it may impact support or the division of marital assets, but these are extremely fact sensitive situations.”
As a general rule, though, inheritances are not marital or subject to equitable distribution, she said.
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This story was originally published in May 2025.
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