Ohio Code 5815.33 – Termination of marriage revokes designation of spouse as beneficiary
(A) As used in this section:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 5815.33
- Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
- Another: when used to designate the owner of property which is the subject of an offense, includes not only natural persons but also every other owner of property. See Ohio Code 1.02
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
(1) “Beneficiary” means a beneficiary of a life insurance policy, an annuity, a payable on death account, an individual retirement plan, an employer death benefit plan, or another right to death benefits arising under a contract.
(2) “Employer death benefit plan” means any funded or unfunded plan or program, or any fund, that is established to provide the beneficiaries of an employee participating in the plan, program, or fund with benefits that may be payable upon the death of that employee.
(3) “Individual retirement plan” means an individual retirement account or individual retirement annuity as defined in section 408 of the “Internal Revenue Code of 1986,” 100 Stat. 2085, 26 U.S.C.A. 408, as amended.
(B)(1) Unless the designation of beneficiary or the judgment or decree granting the divorce, dissolution of marriage, or annulment specifically provides otherwise, and subject to division (B)(2) of this section, if a spouse designates the other spouse as a beneficiary or if another person having the right to designate a beneficiary on behalf of the spouse designates the other spouse as a beneficiary, and if, after either type of designation, the spouse who made the designation or on whose behalf the designation was made, is divorced from the other spouse, obtains a dissolution of marriage, or has the marriage to the other spouse annulled, then the other spouse shall be deemed to have predeceased the spouse who made the designation or on whose behalf the designation was made, and the designation of the other spouse as a beneficiary is revoked as a result of the divorce, dissolution of marriage, or annulment.
(2) If the spouse who made the designation or on whose behalf the designation was made remarries the other spouse, then, unless the designation no longer can be made, the other spouse shall not be deemed to have predeceased the spouse who made the designation or on whose behalf the designation was made, and the designation of the other spouse as a beneficiary is not revoked because of the previous divorce, dissolution of marriage, or annulment.
(C) An agent, bank, broker, custodian, issuer, life insurance company, plan administrator, savings and loan association, transfer agent, trustee, or other person is not liable in damages or otherwise in a civil or criminal action or proceeding for distributing or disposing of property in reliance on and in accordance with a designation of beneficiary as described in division (B)(1) of this section, if both of the following apply:
(1) The distribution or disposition otherwise is proper;
(2) The agent, bank, broker, custodian, issuer, life insurance company, plan administrator, savings and loan association, transfer agent, trustee, or other person did not have any notice of the facts that resulted in the revocation of the beneficiary designation by operation of division (B)(1) of this section.