Your will does not control your pension. Neither does your divorce decree, in most cases, and neither do the instructions you left your family.
What controls it is the beneficiary form sitting in your employer's plan file, interpreted under federal law. The rules that decide who gets pensions come from a federal statute that governs employer retirement plans nationwide, and they operate independently of the Texas rules that handle the rest of your estate. For a Katy or Houston family, that can mean a lifetime of retirement savings going somewhere the will never contemplated.
The Plan Pays What the Paperwork Says
Federal law requires plan administrators to pay benefits according to the plan documents and the designation on file. That obligation is deliberately narrow. The administrator does not weigh what seems fair, read your will, or investigate your family circumstances.
The U.S. Supreme Court has enforced this repeatedly, including in a case where the plan paid an ex-wife who was still named on the form even though she had given up her rights in the divorce. The paperwork on file controlled.
A family's understanding of what someone intended carries no weight in that process. A form completed at a hiring orientation twenty-five years ago can outrank a will signed last year.
Your Spouse Has Rights You Cannot Waive Alone
Federal law gives the spouse of a married participant a protection few people know exists. For a traditional pension, the benefit defaults to a survivor annuity, meaning payments continue to the surviving spouse after the participant dies.
Naming someone else instead usually requires your spouse's written consent, witnessed by a notary or a plan representative. You cannot simply fill out a new form and move the benefit to a child, a sibling, or a trust. Your spouse has to sign off.
If you are married and want your pension to go somewhere other than your spouse, there is a procedure to follow, and skipping it may leave the designation ineffective. A surviving spouse who has been told they are not entitled to anything should also take a second look before accepting that.
Divorce Does Not Clean This Up on Its Own
Texas has a statute that cancels an ex-spouse's beneficiary designation on retirement benefits after a divorce. For employer-sponsored plans, courts have held that federal law overrides that statute.
An ex-spouse can therefore remain the named beneficiary of a pension or 401(k) years after the marriage ended, regardless of what Texas law says or what the decree provided. Dividing a retirement plan in a divorce takes a specific court order the plan accepts, and removing an ex-spouse as beneficiary takes a new form submitted to the plan.
If you have been through a divorce, the beneficiary forms are among the first things to re-check. Our list of signs it is time to update your plan after a Texas divorce covers what else tends to get missed.
Not Every Retirement Account Follows These Rules
The spousal protections above apply to employer plans covered by the federal statute. Several common accounts sit outside it:
- IRAs are not employer plans. You can generally name anyone without your spouse's consent, though Texas community property principles may still give a spouse a claim to part of what was earned during the marriage.
- Government plans, including the Teacher Retirement System and the Employees Retirement System of Texas, follow their own statutes and plan rules. For families connected to Katy ISD or other public employers, the forms on file with that system control, and the rules differ from private employer plans.
- Military and federal benefits operate under separate federal programs with their own designation requirements.
Each account has to be identified by category before anyone can say what, if anything, needs changing.
Key Takeaways
- A will does not control a pension; the beneficiary form on file with the plan does.
- Plan administrators are required to pay according to plan documents, not family understanding.
- For employer pensions, a married participant's benefit generally defaults to a survivor annuity for the spouse.
- Naming someone other than a spouse usually requires that spouse's witnessed written consent.
- A Texas divorce does not reliably remove an ex-spouse from an employer plan, because federal law takes priority.
- IRAs, Texas government plans, and federal benefits each follow different rules.
Checking the Forms With Bromlow Law, PLLC
Questions about who gets pensions usually surface after a death, when a family is grieving and a plan administrator is explaining that nothing can be changed. A review of the forms during life prevents most of that.
At Bromlow Law, PLLC, we look at beneficiary designations alongside the will rather than treating them as a separate errand, because they often move more money. An attorney can review what is on file and whether it matches what you intend. Our estate planning page explains how these pieces work together. Book your discovery call to learn more.
References: CBS News (Aug. 19, 2026) "Why most Americans still don't have a will and the 3 documents every adult needs" · The Street (June 1, 2026) "Charles Schwab warns Americans on major estate planning problems"
