---
title: "Prepare a retirement-plan beneficiary designation and a validity checklist"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/superannuation/draft-a-death-benefit-or-beneficiary-nomination-and-validity-checklist/united-states"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A27-T1-R3-US"
practice_area: "Superannuation"
tier: "yellow"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["US"]
last_reviewed: "2026-10-22"
---

# Prepare a retirement-plan beneficiary designation and a validity checklist

> Extract the current designation, the plan’s beneficiary rule and the people named in the draft form. Do not submit the form.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/superannuation/draft-a-death-benefit-or-beneficiary-nomination-and-validity-checklist/united-states  
Last reviewed: 2026-10-22

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Practice area | [Superannuation](https://ailawframework.com/practice/superannuation.md) |
| Human involvement | Yellow: Lawyer and AI draft together |
| How AI is used | Extract the current designation, the plan’s beneficiary rule and the people named in the draft form. Do not submit the form. |
| What the lawyer must review | The IRS beneficiary page states that a beneficiary is the person or entity the account owner chooses to receive the account after death, that the owner must designate the beneficiary under the plan’s procedures, and that some plans require specific beneficiaries, such as a spouse or child. After death, distribution depends on the year of death, whether the beneficiary is a spouse, and, for deaths in 2020 or later, whether the beneficiary is an eligible designated beneficiary. An eligible designated beneficiary on that page is a spouse or minor child, a disabled or chronically ill individual, or an individual not more than 10 years younger than the owner. You read the plan document and the current IRS page before the form is submitted. A will does not replace a missing designation. Opinion 512: do not put the family’s details into a public tool. |
| Written for | United States |
| Applies to | [Draft a death-benefit or beneficiary nomination and validity checklist](https://ailawframework.com/practice/superannuation/draft-a-death-benefit-or-beneficiary-nomination-and-validity-checklist.md) |

## Checking plan

- What the AI does: Extract the current designation, the plan’s beneficiary rule and the people named in the draft form. Do not submit the form.
- Basis: Checked against the linked sources on 22 October 2026. Confirm the current instrument before reliance.

## Notes

- The IRS page distinguishes deaths before 2020 from deaths in 2020 or later. Do not use one payout rule for both.
- ERISA § 1104(a)(1)(D) requires a fiduciary to follow the plan documents. Read the plan’s spouse-consent rule before you treat a designation as effective.

## Sources

- [IRS, Retirement topics: Beneficiary](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-beneficiary) (checked 2026-10-22)
- [29 U.S.C. § 1104, ERISA fiduciary duties](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/1104) (checked 2026-10-22)
- [ABA Formal Opinion 512, Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools (29 July 2024)](https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/professional_responsibility/ethics-opinions/aba-formal-opinion-512.pdf) (checked 2026-10-22)

## Forms and precedents for this task

| Form or precedent | Kind | AI level | Summary |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Reversionary pension nomination and trustee acceptance (SMSF account-based pension)](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/superannuation/reversionary-pension-nomination.md) | Form | Yellow | A member's nomination that an SMSF account-based pension revert automatically to a dependant on death, with the trustee's acceptance, the dependant check, the interaction with any binding death… |

Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*