What Happens If a Beneficiary Dies First?

A will leaves property to a friend, sibling, or child. Years later, that beneficiary dies before the person who made the will. The original gift remains on the page, but the intended recipient is no longer there to receive it.

This is a good reason to review the document promptly. Waiting leaves the result to language and default rules the person may not understand or intend.

Start with any alternate instruction

Read the entire provision, including language about survival, descendants, and substitutes. Do not stop at the deceased beneficiary’s name. A well-drafted alternate provision may address exactly what happened.

Also identify the type of gift. The rule for a gift under a will should not be assumed to govern a retirement plan or insurance designation. Each controlling document needs its own review.

Iowa has an antilapse rule

Section 633.273 addresses a devisee who dies before the testator and leaves descendants who survive the testator. Subject to clear and explicit contrary intent in the will, the statute provides for those descendants to inherit per stirpes. It also addresses certain class gifts.

That means the gift should not automatically be described as “gone.” The will and the statutory conditions need to be examined before deciding whether descendants take or another result follows.

Section 633.273A addresses failed devises, subject to the antilapse provision and contrary intent in the will. It provides rules involving the residue. These sections belong in the same analysis rather than being treated as competing shortcuts.

Check whether the result still matches the wish

Imagine a person names a sibling and later wants the sibling’s children to receive that share if the sibling dies first. Another person may want the share divided among the surviving named beneficiaries instead. Those are different instructions and should be discussed directly with the drafting attorney.

Bring the existing will and the information about the beneficiary’s death. Ask how the present language works before deciding whether an amendment is necessary. Review account beneficiary forms separately, including contingent designations and administrator requirements.

A backup is most useful when it is deliberate. The death of a beneficiary is a chance to check the plan’s actual operation while the person making it can still choose the next recipient and explain why that choice makes sense.

Tyler ThompsonAuthor