L&HOhiohard
An Ohio life policy is governed by an employer's ERISA welfare plan. The participant divorces but never updates the beneficiary form naming the former spouse. Under controlling law, who is most likely to receive the death benefit?
AThe participant's estate under R.C. 5815.33
BThe contingent beneficiary listed on the plan form, because state law always supersedes plan documents
CThe participant's parents as next of kin
The former spouse, because ERISA preempts the OH revocation-on-divorce rule
Why this is the answer
R.C. 5815.33 would revoke the former spouse's designation on an individual policy. For ERISA-governed plans, however, U.S. Supreme Court precedent (Egelhoff line) preempts state revocation-on-divorce statutes, so the plan administrator pays the named beneficiary on the form.
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