Generally, an ERISA plan participant can select just about anyone to be their beneficiary. The 2012 ERISA Advisory Council studied current challenges and best practices concerning beneficiary designations in retirement and life insurance plans.Learn how having a beneficiary designation on file can impact how your CalPERS death benefits are paid. It's in an ERISA account owner's best interest to have specific beneficiaries designated in retirement accounts. This will facilitate the transfer of assets. You must name a primary beneficiary and at least one contingent beneficiary (to whom assets will pass if the primary beneficiary has died). More In Retirement Plans​​ ERISA protects surviving spouses of deceased participants who had earned a vested pension benefit before their death. ERISA provides that a person who is an alternate payee under a QDRO generally shall be considered a beneficiary under the plan for purposes of. ERISA. Confusion over who to name as a beneficiary and how to change beneficiary designation can lead to disputes later on. Beneficiary designations in life insurance plans determine who receives plan benefits following the death of a plan participant.