I have an IRA that originated in the 80s. At that time, the spouse was named as beneficiary with an adult child as the contingent beneficiary. Fast forward 30 yrs later. The spouse has since passed away and the IRA owner has a new spouse. No changes have been made to the IRA beneficiary designation. Does the new spouse need to know that she's not the beneficiary and sign the consent form? Does the new spouse automatically become the beneficiary and override the contingent beneficiary? I guess I need to do some damage control at this point.

No,contacting a pretermitted spouse and thus opening Pandora's Box is not on your to do list. Oklahoma is not a community property state so. a spouse is not required to sign a consent form if someone else is named an IRA beneficiary. Come to think of it, Oklahoma has a couple laws that are nothing short of bizarre, check with your legal counsel.