Beneficiary Order of Precedence
If there isn't a valid designation on file when you die, benefits are payable in this order:

First: to your widow or widower

Second: if none, to your child or children in equal shares, with the share of any deceased child distributed among that child's descendants

Third: if none, to your parents in equal shares or the entire amount to your surviving parent

Fourth: if none, to the executor or administrator of your estate

Fifth: if none, to your next of kin under the laws of the State where you lived at the time of your death.

https://www.opm.gov/healthcare-insurance/life-insurance/desi...

Preference Beneficiary Clause
If you haven't nominated a beneficiary in your policy, your insurance company will disburse the life insurance money to the individuals listed in your policy. Presume that the order of priority in your policy is as follows:

Your spouse
Your children
Your parents.
If the proceeds are distributed, they will go to the first living individual which, in most cases, will be your spouse.

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/06/lifeinsurancecla...

6.06 BENEFICIARY(IES) NOT DESIGNATED

Members must name a specific beneficiary. If a member does not designate a beneficiary, the insurance will automatically be paid in the following order of precedence:

a. The surviving spouse of the member; if none,

b. The child or children of the member, in equal shares, with the share of any deceased children to be distributed among the descendants of that child; if none,...

https://benefits.va.gov/INSURANCE/resources_handbook_ins_cha...

Also, order of priority

I can't find any references that include 'exclusion/excluding'.


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Note added at 40 mins (2023-11-16 11:07:34 GMT)
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Sorry, my answer should have been 'order of precedence'. While I was writing, I was thinking in Spanish.

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Note added at 1 hr (2023-11-16 11:27:23 GMT)
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I've been looking and for the UK, I think 'order of priority' would be better as 'order of precedence' is used for royalty, the nobility, etc.

Order of precedence in England and Wales

The following is the order of precedence in England and Wales as of November 2023. Separate orders exist for men and women.

Names in italics indicate that these people rank elsewhere—either higher in that table of precedence or in the table for the other sex. Titles in italics indicate the same thing for their holders, or that they are vacant.

Peers and their families make up a large part of these tables. It is possible for a peer to hold more than one title of nobility, and these may belong to different ranks and peerages. A peer derives his precedence from his highest-ranking title; peeresses derive their precedence in the same way, whether they hold their highest-ranking title in their own right or by marriage. The ranks in the tables refer to peers rather than titles: if exceptions are named for a rank, these do not include peers of a higher rank (or any peers at all, in the case of baronets). No exceptions are named for most categories, owing to their large size.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_precedence_in_England...