When you joined NYSLRS, you may have named one or more beneficiaries to receive certain benefits if you die.
NYSLRS retirement plans provide death benefits for beneficiaries of eligible members who die before retiring. The “ordinary death benefit” is paid to the beneficiary or beneficiaries that you designated, so it’s important to review periodically to make sure your choices reflect your current wishes. For example, if you just married, you may want to update your NYSLRS account information to name your new spouse as your beneficiary.
Types of Beneficiaries
There are two types of beneficiaries — primary and contingent beneficiaries:
- Your primary beneficiary will receive any payable ordinary death benefit. You can list more than one primary beneficiary. If you do, they would share the benefit equally. Or, you can choose different percentages for each beneficiary that total 100 percent. (Example: John Doe, 50 percent; Jane Doe, 25 percent; and Mary Doe, 25 percent.)
- A contingent beneficiary will only receive the benefit if all your primary beneficiaries die before you do. If you list multiple contingent beneficiaries, they will share the benefit equally unless you choose different percentages.
Special Beneficiary Designations
Your beneficiary doesn’t have to be a person. You can name a charity, a trust or your estate as your beneficiary.
When you die, your estate is the money and property you owned. Your death benefit will be given to the executor of your estate to be distributed according to the terms of your will. You can name your estate as the primary or contingent beneficiary of your death benefit. If you name your estate as the primary beneficiary, do not name a contingent beneficiary.
You can name a trust as a primary or contingent beneficiary if you have a trust agreement or provided for a trust in your will. The trust itself would be your NYSLRS beneficiary, not the individuals for whom you established the trust. (You may want to speak with your attorney if you’re thinking about making your trust a beneficiary.)
You can also name any charitable, civic, religious, educational or health-related organization as a beneficiary.
If your beneficiary is a minor child (under age 18) at the time of your death, your benefit will be paid to the child’s court-appointed guardian. You may instead choose a custodian to receive the benefit on the child’s behalf under the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA). Custodians can be designated in Retirement Online or you can contact us for more information and the appropriate form before making this type of designation.
Updating Your Beneficiaries
You can change your beneficiaries at any time. You should also review your named beneficiaries to make sure their contact information is up to date.
- The fastest way to view or update your beneficiaries is in Retirement Online. You can add beneficiaries, update beneficiary information or remove beneficiaries. Sign in, then click “Manage My Beneficiaries” on the right, under “I want to ….”
- You can also complete and mail us a Designation of Beneficiary form (RS5127). Read the instructions on the form before entering your preferences. Be sure to include all your beneficiaries on the form. Your new beneficiary designations will replace all your previously named beneficiaries. Though your designations will need to be reviewed and approved, your updated beneficiary information becomes effective when we receive your properly completed, signed and notarized form.
More Information
You can read more about beneficiary designations in our Life Changes: Why Should I Designate a Beneficiary? publication. If you have questions, please contact us.
If you are retired, you may wish to read our blog post Can You Change Your Beneficiary After You Retire?
how is it determined which is the lifetime beneficiary? If there are two primary beneficiaries listed, it does not state that on the paperwork where the beneficiary is listed. The Breakdown states that this member retired under joint allowance full option 2.
For a joint allowance pension payment option, the lifetime beneficiary is selected by the retiree at retirement. Beneficiaries may also be entitled to a one-time, lump sum post-retirement death benefit. You can find general information on our death benefits for retirees webpage.
If you have questions about paperwork you received, please call our customer service representatives at 866-805-0990. The Call Center is available Monday through Friday from 7:30 am – 5:00 pm.
I have tried numerous times to update my beneficiaries online and the system keeps saying I need to review a section providing online – which I have done so many times and it just won’t acknowledge that I did read the section they require to be read. I did print and mail out the form, but it says it could take up to a year to update in the system. This is bothersome to me as I’m not getting any younger, (LOLOLOL).
For help with Retirement Online, please call our customer service representatives at 866-805-0990, press 2, then follow the prompts.
It doesn’t give an option to verify if the beneficiary change form was processed.
To check your current beneficiary information, sign in to Retirement Online. If you still have questions or need help with Retirement Online, please call our customer service representatives at 866-805-0990, press 2, then follow the prompts.
I did it online as well, only to get my statement to realize it wasn’t changed. This is a serious and material flaw in the system. Management really should take it down if it doesn’t work. Seems like they should know better. This is a very time sensitive matter for those who are dying and could result in very costly litigation for intended beneficiaries. NYS retirement system, please do better.
Your Member Annual Statement shows your account information as March 31, 2023.
To check your current beneficiary information, sign in to Retirement Online. If you still have questions or need help with Retirement Online, please call our customer service representatives at 866-805-0990, press 2, then follow the prompts.
My brother recentlypassed away and left his death benefit to my sister. The retirement system sent her a letter saying something about rolling the benefit over(?). I am also a NYS retiree and have never heard of such a thing. Talked about his spouse, something he’s never had, brother was single his whole life. Need the money for his funeral expenses…
We are sorry for your loss.
If your sister has questions about the letter she received, she should please contact the NYSLRS Call Center at 866-805-0990 and press 3. The Call Center is available Monday through Friday, 7:30 am – 5:00 pm.
I received a letter that was a affidavit to have a portion of what is owed to me from my moms death benefits to be taken out to pay back a deposit that was made 4 days after her death, which I have no issue with. I did not know I was a beneficiary (was shocked when I got the letter) it’s been 6 weeks and haven’t heard anything and I have no way of calling to speak to someone. She died a year and a half ago. When do they send out payments I do not want a check of that amount sitting in my mailbox while I’m at work all day. The mail boxes in my building are in a common area.
Your message is important to us, and we have sent you a private message in response.
Does the payment received by the beneficiaries represent 1) a multiple of the employees annual wages and 2) is received in lieu of the pension accumulated until death?
Example: Employee 1 works for 35 yrs, without retiring and dies. The spouse receives a multiple of the average annual compensation as a death benefit. No pension is received by the surviving spouse.
Employee 2 work 6 years and has a compensation average equal to Employee 1. Employee 2 dies while employed and his survivor receives a death benefit equal to Employee 1 who worked 29 more years?
If an eligible member dies before retiring, and their death is not the result of an on-the-job accident, the death benefit is a one-time lump sum payment that is based on their earnings. The member’s accumulated membership contributions would also be payable to their beneficiary.
Death benefits and eligibility requirements vary by tier and retirement plan. You can find general information about death benefits on our website.
For account-specific information about your tier and plan, please message our customer service representatives using our secure contact form. Filling out the secure form allows them to safely contact you about your personal account information.
How do we find out how much accumulated contributions are left after death?
Once NYSLRS receives a report of a member or retiree’s death, we contact any designated beneficiaries. We begin processing any death benefits that may be payable once we receive a death certificate. We can only mail specific information about death benefits and continuing retirement benefits to the named beneficiaries.
If you have questions about your specific account, please email our customer service representatives using our secure email form. One of our representatives will review your account and respond to your questions. Filling out the secure form allows us to safely contact you about your personal account information.
As a tier 1 retiree I have no death benefits however they still asked for a beneficiary. Why?
This could be explained by the fact that there are several possible death benefits available to NYSLRS retirees.
We suggest you contact our customer service representatives. Because they have access to your account-specific information, they’ll be able to answer your question. You can contact them by using our secure email form (www.emailNYSLRS.com). One of our representatives will review your account and respond to your questions. Filling out the secure form allows us to safely contact you about your personal account information.
You can also contact our Call Center at 1-866-805-0990 (518-474-7736 in the Albany, New York area). The Call Center is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 am – 5:00 pm.