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Beneficiaries


Your beneficiary is the person or persons you can designate who will receive your retirement benefit in the event of your death. Under both plans, you'll need to complete a beneficiary designation form if you wish to control who may receive any available retirement benefits.
 
You can change your beneficiary at any time. If your designated beneficiary dies or your marital status changes, you should submit a new beneficiary designation form.
 
FRS Pension Plan FRS Investment Plan
  • You may name a joint annuitant or other person, organization, trust, or estate, as a beneficiary.
  • A joint annuitant is a designated beneficiary who is:
    • Your spouse;
    • Your natural or legally adopted child who is under age 25, or who is physically or mentally disabled and incapable of self-support;
    • Your parent or grandparent or anyone for whom you are the legal guardian and who is claimed as a financial dependent for at least one-half of their financial support.
    • If you're married, your spouse is considered to be your beneficiary for the Pension Plan unless you name a different beneficiary after your most recent marriage.

Only a beneficiary who qualifies as a joint annuitant will be eligible for a lifetime monthly benefit upon your death under retirement payment options 3 & 4. If your designated beneficiary does not qualify as a joint annuitant, a refund of any contributions you made to the system will be paid to that beneficiary upon your death. A joint annuitant is your spouse; your natural or legally adopted child who is either under age 25 or is physically or mentally disabled and incapable of self-support (regardless of age); or your parent, grandparent, or a person for whom you are the legal guardian, provided such parent, grandparent, or person received one-half or more of his or her financial support from you or is eligible to be claimed as a dependent on your federal income tax return.
When you retire, you'll be asked to rename a beneficiary and choose a retirement payment option. (See Payment Options for more information.)
After you retire, you can change your beneficiary designation at any time if you elected Payment Option 1 or Option 2. If you choose Payment Option 3 or Option 4, you may change your joint annuitant* only two times after you retire. Note that your benefit is recalculated when you change your joint annuitant under Options 3 and 4.
  • You may name any person, organization, trust, or estate as a beneficiary.
  • If you name someone other than your spouse as your primary beneficiary, your spouse will need to acknowledge the designation.
  • If you're married, your spouse is considered to be your beneficiary for the Investment Plan unless you name a different beneficiary after your most recent marriage.
*Your joint annuitant is considered to be your spouse, your natural or legally adopted child who either is under age 25 or is physically or mentally disabled and incapable of self-support (regardless of age), or any person who is financially dependent upon you for one-half or more of his or her support and is your parent, your grandparent, or a person for whom you are the legal guardian.
 

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