NYSLRS retirement plans provide death benefits for beneficiaries of eligible members who die before retiring. If you are retired, your beneficiaries may be entitled to a post-retirement death benefit.
It’s important to name beneficiaries and review them periodically. Life circumstances sometimes change, and the beneficiary you named before might not be the one you would choose today. For example, if you just married, you may want to update your NYSLRS account information to name your new spouse as your beneficiary.
2 Types of Beneficiaries
- Your primary beneficiary will receive your death benefit. You can list more than one primary beneficiary. If you do, they will share the benefit equally. Or you can choose different percentages for each beneficiary to total 100 percent. (Example: John Doe, 50 percent; Jane Doe, 25 percent; and Mary Doe, 25 percent.)
- A contingent beneficiary will only receive a 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.
- Estate. 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.
- Trust. 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 beneficiary, not the individuals for whom you established the trust. (Speak with your attorney if you’re thinking about making your trust a beneficiary.)
- Entity. You can also name any charitable, civic, religious, educational or health-related organization as a beneficiary.
- Minor children. If your beneficiary is under the age of 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.
Keep Your Beneficiaries Up to Date
You can change your beneficiaries at any time. In addition to adding or removing them to reflect your current wishes, you should review the contact information for your named beneficiaries so we can find them when needed.
The fastest way to view or update your beneficiaries is in Retirement Online.
- Sign in to Retirement Online.
- In the ‘I Want to…’ section, click the “View and Update My Beneficiaries” button.
Find More Information
If you are not yet retired, you can read more about beneficiary designations in Life Changes: Why Should I Designate a Beneficiary?
If you are retired, you may wish to read our Can You Change Your Beneficiary After You Retire? blog post.
I received a notice stating that my late brother named me as a designated beneficiary for Group Term Life Insurance and Post Retirement Death Benefit.His will bequeathed any interest in insurance policies to someone else.
What does this mean?
We would like to extend our condolences on the loss of your brother. If your brother was a retired NYSLRS member, he named you as a beneficiary for his NYSLRS death benefits. This means you may be entitled to receive a Post-Retirement Death Benefit and, if he was previously employed by New York State, a Survivor’s Benefit. Please visit our website for more information about retiree death benefits.
If you have additional questions about the death benefits, please call our customer service representatives at 866-805-0990, press 3, then 2. You can also message them using our secure contact form.
My father passed away in 2019 leaving an ex-girlfriend of 20 years prior as a primary beneficiary and me and my two siblings as contingent beneficiaries. His ex- girlfriend whom is married tried to renounce the benefit, only to be told by NYS that she didn’t do it in time when she wasn’t even contacted by NYSLRS prior to the 9 month deadline they gave her-not taking any fault in this. This has caused major marriage issues between her and her husband. She was told April of 2023 that if she just let the money go, that we could then file to get the benefit this year. Two people from their customer service number have given two different answer’s-which has ALWAYS been the case over the last 5 years- none of it matching what my fathers ex was told. We took a loan out to pay for his funeral as his death was unexpected. We have paid for lawyers and have occurred expenses for time off to arrange to sign documents for this case. This place is a fraud and it’s absolutely unacceptable that we are still having to deal with the inadequacy and inconsistency of this agency so that we can at least pay for his funeral.
Your message is important to us, and we have sent you a private message in response.
My Mother passed last fall and I have not yet received a check. Please update me on situation.
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I am having difficulty making contact with your office. My Mother passed away
over year and half ago and I haven’t received my beneficiary check that was payable to me. I called the number provided to be on hold for 95 minutes and then was disconnected. This is not right.
Please contact me through email
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On the passing of my husband, I recieved a letter pertaining to the benefits payable to me as a designated beneficiary. I also received a beneficiary application lump sum payment form and a beneficiary certification. I am having difficulty understanding the difference between the two and I want to find out where I go from here. Thank you
We would like to extend our condolences on the passing of your husband. Your message is important to us, and we have sent you a private message in response.
My dad oassed away 12/2023. My mom is the beneficiary. We received a letter indicating monthly dollar amount. However, to date no monies received. Telephone line always says “high call volume, try again the next day”. Telephone call now says “your information is not recognized”. My mom is elderly, my dad listed her as beneficiary, precisely, so as to support her shoud he pass away. And now, my mom is suffering financial hardships. We ask, please, answer the phones!
We would like to extend our condolences on the passing of your father.
Your message is important to us, and we have sent you a private message in response.
My niece died, in service, in October. We received the paperwork in December, returned early January. We have not heard anything from NYS retirement. We spoke with a rep in December and was told everything was ok. Should we have heard something by now. The beneficiary was a trust. Thank you for any info.
We would like to extend our condolences on the passing of your niece.
For questions about death benefits, please contact the NYSLRS Call Center at 866-805-0990 and press 3. The Call Center is available Monday through Friday from 7:30 am – 5:00 pm.
I don’t want a benificary I would like my refund as quick as you took my money
We’d like to help resolve your issue. Your message is important to us, and we have sent you a private message in response.