Can My Will Override a Beneficiary Designation in Washington?

You sign a new will after a divorce, a remarriage, or a falling out, and you assume it now controls everything you own. Then you remember the payable on death form you filled out at the bank fifteen years ago and wonder which piece of paper wins.

Usually the beneficiary form wins. But Washington has an unusual law, the Testamentary Disposition of Nonprobate Assets Act in chapter 11.11 RCW, that lets a will take over certain accounts. Under RCW 11.11.020, when a will specifically refers to an asset the act covers, that asset belongs to the person named in the will, even though an earlier beneficiary form names someone else. The rule is narrow. It does not reach life insurance or retirement accounts, and it comes with short deadlines.

Why Does the Beneficiary Form Usually Win?

A will controls only the property that passes through your probate estate. An account with a beneficiary designation, a payable on death instruction, or a survivorship feature passes under its own paperwork at the moment of death. Washington calls these nonprobate assets, and RCW 11.02.005 defines them as rights that pass at death under a written instrument or arrangement other than the person's will.

RCW 11.11.020 confirms the default. A general residuary gift in a will, or a will that makes a general disposition of all of your property, does not entitle the people named in the will to your nonprobate assets. A will that says "I leave everything I own to my children" does nothing to a savings account that is payable on death to your brother. The brother takes the account.

When Does the Will Control?

The exception is in the same section. Subject to community property rights, your interest in any nonprobate asset "specifically referred to" in your will belongs to the person the will names to receive it, regardless of the rights of any beneficiary designated before the date of the will.

Two things have to be true. First, the will has to point at the asset. Identifying the account does that, and the statute also accepts category language: a gift of "all nonprobate assets," or of a whole category such as "all of my payable on death bank accounts," is treated as a gift of every covered asset whose beneficiary was designated before the date of the will. The Washington Supreme Court read this requirement practically in Manary v. Anderson, 176 Wn.2d 342 (2013), holding that a will complies when it specifically refers to the asset, even if it never mentions the instrument that would otherwise pass it.

Second, the will has to come later. It overrides only beneficiary designations made before the will was signed.

Which Assets Does the Act Cover?

The act starts with the general definition in RCW 11.02.005 and then RCW 11.11.010 removes several items.

Common covered assets include payable on death and trust bank accounts, joint bank accounts with a right of survivorship, and transfer on death securities and brokerage accounts. The act can also reach an owner's retained, revocable interest in a living trust. Manary itself involved real estate held in such a trust. An interest irrevocably transferred before death falls outside the general statutory definition.

What is out is a longer list. The general definition in RCW 11.02.005 does not include a payable on death provision of a life insurance policy, an annuity, or an employee benefit plan, so those never enter the act at all. RCW 11.11.010 then excludes real property held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, a transfer on death deed, a deed where possession is postponed until death, property passing under a community property agreement, and an individual retirement account.

In plain terms, a will cannot redirect your life insurance, your workplace retirement plan, your IRA, or a house that passes by survivorship or by a transfer on death deed. The "subject to community property rights" language matters too: a will can reach only your own interest in an account, not your spouse's half of community funds. The article on community property agreements versus wills covers how those two documents interact.

What If I Change the Beneficiary After Signing the Will?

Then the new designation wins. RCW 11.11.020 says that if the owner designates a beneficiary after the date of the will, the will's specific provisions do not govern that asset, even if the later designation is itself revoked afterward. In that case, if nothing else controls the asset, it is treated as a general asset of the estate and passes under the rest of the will. For accounts that roll over, a designation on an account that renews without the owner's signature is treated as made on the date the account was first opened.

There is one more trap. Under RCW 11.11.030, an owner can waive the right to dispose of a specific nonprobate asset by will, in a signed writing delivered to the financial institution, and the statute specifically mentions signature cards and deposit agreements. The fine print on an account agreement can take the account back out of the act.

What Happens If the Bank Pays the Wrong Person?

Under RCW 11.11.040, a bank or brokerage may rely entirely on the form of the account as it stood on the date of death unless it has actual knowledge of a claim under the will. Actual knowledge requires written notice meeting RCW 11.11.050, received in time for the institution to act. Written notice must satisfy the statute's requirements, including personal service or certified mail with return receipt requested and postage prepaid, service on the required parties, and an affidavit of service or mailing filed in the estate case. Notice goes to the institution, the named beneficiary, the person named in the will, and the personal representative. Notice to a financial institution must reach the specified office and responsible manager or trust officer, together with any additional location or method required by the owner's written agreement. The personal representative is allowed to send that notice but has no duty to, so the person the will favors often has to act.

If the money has already gone out, RCW 11.11.070 allows a petition in superior court against the person who received it. The deadline is the earlier of six months after the will is admitted to probate or one year after the death. After that the claim is barred.

A Worked Example

Mark, who lives in Everett, opened a payable on death savings account in 2012 naming his sister Carol. He remarried, and in 2023 signed a will that says, "I give my savings account at my credit union to my wife, Dana." He also owns a life insurance policy that still names Carol. Mark dies in 2026.

The savings account belongs to Dana under RCW 11.11.020, because the will specifically refers to it and Carol's designation is older than the will, assuming Mark never signed a waiver. Dana needs written notice in the credit union's hands before it pays Carol. If Carol is paid first, Dana has to file a petition within the RCW 11.11.070 deadline. The life insurance goes to Carol no matter what the will says. And if Mark had signed a fresh payable on death form in 2024, that later form would control the account instead of the will.

Fix the Forms, Not Just the Will

Chapter 11.11 RCW is a backstop, and a plan that depends on it invites a race against a bank and a lawsuit against a relative. The reliable approach is to update every beneficiary form whenever you change your will, especially after a marriage or a split. Divorce triggers its own rule, explained in the article on whether divorce revokes a will and beneficiary designations. The Law Office of Chad Foster reviews wills and beneficiary designations together so they say the same thing. Call 425.785.8679 to talk with a Snohomish County estate planning attorney.