<p>When I worked with pensions, the beneficiaries of those married had to be the spouse unless the spouse signed off or there was some court document permitting the waiver. You could not legally cut out the spouse. The same as ones will. However, once divorced, that’s a whole other story. Especially when there is remarriage. it can get tricky. There are some legal guidelines. </p>
<p>Despite any number of laws out there to protect spouses, there can be nasty surprises. Some not even intentional but any settlement should have the language in it that if future discoveries come up with assets that were around at the time of the split but not addressed, because they were overlooked,would be reallocated as they should have been. Otherwise, even things that were just overlooked could be lost. </p>