My former spouse and I have been divorced 12 years. Upon our divorce, we both were ordered to "keep" our own 401k accounts. He never changed his beneficiary designation afterward, due to the fact we have a child. (No order in our divorce decree for this designation, it was just his choice). He left the job which holds the account about 10 years ago and never contributed to the account again and did not roll it over to his new job. In June, 2009, he remarried. In September, 2009, he separated...he was due to divorce Jan 2010. Sadly, he committed suicide in Dec 2009. Who should receive the 401k distribution? As he was married less than a year and no marital funds were placed into the account, does spousal status "trump" beneficiary designation in this case?