Death without a valid beneficiary designation, effect of - most recent ...
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 169.676
in effect169.676. Death without a valid beneficiary designation, effect of — most recent valid designation of beneficiary revokes previous designations. — 1. If a member dies before service retirement and is not survived by a beneficiary under a valid beneficiary designation filed with the retirement system or all designated beneficiaries have disclaimed the right to receive benefits from the retirement system, the following individuals shall be deemed to be the member's designated beneficiaries, in the following order of precedence, for the purpose of making an election and receiving benefits under paragraph (a) or (b) of subdivision (2) of subsection 4 of section 169.670 :
(1) Surviving spouse at the time of the member's death;
(2) Surviving children, share and share alike;
(3) Surviving parents, share and share alike;
(4) Estate.
2. The member's most recent valid designation of a beneficiary received by the retirement system prior to the member's death revokes all previous designations in their entirety. The member's marriage, divorce, withdrawal of accumulated contributions, or the birth of the member's child, or the member's adoption of a child, shall result in an automatic revocation of the member's previous designation in its entirety upon the retirement system receiving actual notice of such event before or after the member's death and prior to any payments being made under the provisions of this chapter. This section applies to all beneficiary designations filed with the retirement system before or after August 28, 2005, under which payments have not been made under this chapter. This section shall not apply to the member's designation of a beneficiary to receive a monthly benefit upon the death of the member under subdivision (1) of subsection 4 of section 169.670 .
(L. 2005 H.B. 443)
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=169.676Fetched: 10/17/2026