Effect of Divorce on Death Proceeds (F.S. 732.703)

A beneficiary designation in favor of the owner's spouse is void upon divorce, dissolution, or invalidity of the marriage if the designation was made before the dissolution — the death proceeds then pass as if the former spouse predeceased the insured (F.S. 732.703; applies to life insurance, annuities, IRAs, pay-on-death accounts, and similar assets). Main exceptions where the ex-spouse still collects: the designation was signed after the dissolution; a court order (such as the divorce decree) requires maintaining the former spouse as beneficiary; the designation is irrevocable; the insured remarried the former spouse; or federal law (e.g., ERISA employer plans) provides otherwise.

In Florida, divorce automatically crosses your ex off the beneficiary line — the money flows as if they'd died first (so the contingent beneficiary collects). The ex only stays on if you re-named them after the divorce, a judge ordered it, the designation was irrevocable, or you remarried them.