Wills and trusts cannot transfer the pension proceeds to any beneficiary. Every pension plan, 401(k) or IRA has a beneficiary statement filed with the administrator of that plan. The plan will be distributed exactly as that beneficiary statement sets out. Believe it or not, the IRS has made the beneficiary designation much simpler in the last two years. As a general rule, naming your spouse as the primary beneficiary is the best because the surviving spouse is the only person that can transfer your account to the survivor's name and it will become the survivor's pension account. For the contingent beneficiary of a married participant, or a single participant, you must specify an exact separate amount each beneficiary will receive. Example: If you have two children you do not give it to the two children "equally." You'll give a divided 50% interest to each. In this manner, each child will be able to receive your account with a minimum withdrawal requirement of that IRA based on their life expectancy. Otherwise, they will take their share based on the oldest child's life expectancy.