Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

You are legally entitled to do that. However, at this point if you die your wife is in a position to claim half of your estate when you die and giving her the legal right to contest the beneficiary designations. Assuming your heirs an beneficiaries can prove what you say regarding ending the marital community 22 years ago without intent to resume it, AND they can prove the securities were bought with separate property, they would prevail over her claim. But what you would be doing is effectively dumping the divorce you should have gotten a long time ago in your heirs lap. They would need to sort out community and separate property in probate court the same as you should have in divorce court. Of course they would be handicapped by the lack of personal knowledge of many of the facts they would have to introduce into evidence; anything they say you said or records you kept would be hearsay. That's not a position I would want to put my kids in. Just get the divorce.