Designating or Changing Your ACERA Beneficiaries and Preparing Them for Your Death
Who Is Your Beneficiary?
As an active member, you had the opportunity to designate your beneficiary for death benefits when you entered ACERA membership, and active and deferred members can change their beneficiary any time prior to retirement.
Retired members had the opportunity at the time of retirement to name beneficiaries for continuance payments. Continuance beneficiaries, once designated, can’t be changed. Retired members can name beneficiaries for lump-sum death benefit payments at retirement and at any time during retirement.
Who is your beneficiary? You should log in to your online account to see who your designated beneficiary is. If the beneficiary is incorrect, or you have no beneficiary, you should change your beneficiary.
How to Change Your Beneficiary
Complete the appropriate form for you and mail it to us:
Active and Deferred Members: Active or Deferred Member Beneficiary Designation Form
Retired Members: Retired Member Beneficiary Designation Form
Some Helpful Preparations to Make for Your Beneficiary
In addition to the checklist below, you may want to review this handy flyer, which contains a lot of the same information: Getting Your Affairs in Order Flyer
- Ensure your beneficiary information is up to date by reviewing your online account.
- Make a will. Every adult should have a will. It’s a good idea to see an estate-planning attorney to have your will done according to your wishes, especially if you have a more complicated estate. However, if expense is an issue or you believe your situation is fairly simple, you can make your own will for free: try www.doyourownwill.com.
- Make an Advanced Healthcare Directive. An advanced directive allows you to choose someone to make health care decisions for you when you cannot (or do not want to) make health care decisions for yourself. It also allows you to state your treatment preferences if you have a terminal condition or if you are in a state of permanent unconsciousness.
- Make a life planning file. Get a folder, manilla
envelope, or other container and put the following items in:
- Personal documents — birth certificates, passports, Social Security information, marriage certificate, divorce decree, military discharge papers, naturalization papers, your and your loved one’s wills, advanced healthcare directives, adoption papers, power of attorney, and burial instructions.
- Retirement and death benefit information — ACERA’s phone number and website, contact information for other pensions you have, and contact information for organizations for which are eligible for death benefits.
- Income tax information — copies of both state and federal income tax returns for the last two years.
- Property tax information — copies of tax bills, house and burial plot deeds, liens, and other related information.
- Insurance policies — life, auto, homeowners, property, accident, liability, and hospitalization policies.
- Bank and financial accounts — include locations of all checking and savings accounts, CDs, brokerage accounts, deferred compensation accounts, safe deposit boxes, savings bonds, stocks, bonds and any other securities owned.
- Credit cards — account numbers, phone numbers, and addresses.
- Associations and organizations of which you are a member — some of them could be helpful to your loved one.
- Friends and business associates who could be helpful. Also include names and numbers of your attorney, accountant, stockbroker, financial planner, insurance agent, and executor/executrix of your will.
- Survivor Checklist — A copy of ACERA’s Survivor Checklist
- Make sure you show and/or tell your beneficiary where your
life planning file is. Also tell your beneficiary where the
following items are located:
- Titles and deeds to your house and other property
- Mortgage documents
- Safe combination
- Trust agreements
You Can Name Fund Custodians for Beneficiaries Under Age 18 to Avoid Court Appointment
If you are designating a minor as a beneficiary, ACERA strongly recommends that you name an adult you trust to serve as a “custodian” to receive and manage the payments for the minor until age 18 or an older specified age.
- Click here for the law explaining how to name a “custodian” for a minor.
- Click here for the law explaining how to establish a “custodian” to continue serving after the beneficiary turns 18.
If you do not name a “custodian,” ACERA will not be able to pay benefits that exceed $10,000 to the minor until a court appoints a guardian of the estate for the minor (payments up to $10,000 may be made to an adult member of the minor’s family or to a trust company without a “custodian” designation). Naming a person you trust as a “custodian” for the minor will help the minor beneficiary and those caring for the minor beneficiary avoid such delay and expense. A minor’s parent is not automatically a guardian of the estate for that child, so you should name a parent of the minor as the “custodian” if you want a parent of the minor to receive and manage the payments.
Spouses and Minor Children Have Legal Rights to Continuance Benefits, Which Supersede Any Other Named Beneficiaries
However, it is possible for your spouse to waive his or her rights to your benefits.
Retiree Death Benefits
Types of Death Benefits
Retirees can name beneficiaries for the following benefits payable upon the retiree’s death:
Continuance Payments
- Continuance – A continuing monthly payment to a beneficiary, often for the lifetime of the beneficiary. The value is based on the retirement option the retiree chose at retirement. See the section below.
Lump Sum Payments
A lump sum payment is a one-time death benefit payment to a beneficiary. The beneficiary can be anyone, including a trust or a charity.
- $1000 one-time lump-sum death benefit – This benefit is vested.
- Refund of member account balance – A one-time payment in one lump sum of the balance of the member’s contribution account (= employee contributions + interest – total retirement payments) if the account is not yet exhausted by retirement payments.* This is not paid out if the beneficiary receives a continuance.
- Retirement allowance earned but not yet paid by the retiree’s death – This benefit is pro-rated to cover the amount payable for the portion of the month prior to the retiree’s death.
- Refund of prepaid health payments – Healthcare premiums paid in advance for the member or dependents will be refunded to the beneficiary. This benefit is taxable. Beneficiaries will receive a 1099-R form for income reporting purposes.
Death Benefits Are Based on the 5 Retirement Options
At retirement, ACERA members choose one of the five options below. A retired member’s death benefits are based on which option they chose. If they chose a continuance payment option and named an eligible beneficiary, the beneficiary will receive a monthly continuance payment. A member’s only opportunity to name a continuance beneficiary (a beneficiary that receives a continuance) is at the time of retirement. A member’s retirement option selection is permanent, and cannot be changed after retirement.
| Retirement Option | Beneficiary’s Benefit Upon Retiree’s Death |
|---|---|
| Unmodified Option |
60% continuance of retiree’s allowance at time of death to:
100% continuance of retiree’s allowance at time of death, if retiree is on a service-connected disability retirement, to:
|
| Option 1* | One-time lump sum refund of member account balance. No continuance.* |
| Option 2 | 100% continuance of retiree’s allowance at time of death |
| Option 3 | 50% continuance of retiree’s allowance at time of death |
| Option 4 | Retiree Specifies Continuance Amount to One or More Beneficiaries |
Survivors receiving continuances will continue to receive annual cost of living adjustments to their continuances.
Further details on each of the 5 Retirement Options can be found on our Applying to Retire page.
Information about death benefits for death before retirement can be found on our summary Death Benefits page.
* For these lump sum death benefits, rather than receiving payment in one lump sum, the beneficiary may elect to receive the payment in monthly installments over a period of up to ten years, with interest paid on the unpaid balance at ACERA’s annual inflation assumption rate, which is currently 2.75% per annum (compounded monthly).
Survivor Checklist
After the death of a loved one, many people find themselves overwhelmed with the tasks to be completed.
This checklist is to assist survivors of ACERA retirees with issues they may need to address. It’s not a definitive list of all matters of immediate concern upon death, so you may want to add your own items.
What to Do Regarding ACERA
- Notify ACERA of the death by filling out the Report a Death form or by calling 510-628-3000.
- If you are the member’s designated beneficiary for ACERA
death benefits, an ACERA representative will call you to
discuss benefits. If you believe you are the beneficiary, you can
gather the documents ACERA will require to pay out death benefits
so you are ready to provide them to ACERA. ACERA will send you a
letter requesting these documents, and you can mail them to us in
the envelope provided:
- For monthly continuance payments, ACERA requires:
- A copy of beneficiary’s birth certificate
- A copy of beneficiary’s social security card
- A copy of marriage certificate, state-registered domestic partnership declaration, or Alameda County Affidavit of Domestic Partnership if applicable
- An original certified copy of retired member’s death certificate
- For lump sum payments, ACERA requires:
- A copy of beneficiary’s social security card
- An original certified copy of retired member’s death certificate
- For monthly continuance payments, ACERA requires:
What to Do Outside of ACERA
- Gather all pertinent information and identification numbers for immediate reference — full name, date of birth, place of birth, address at time of death, place of death, Social Security number, VA number, Medicare number, insurance policy numbers, bank account numbers, and contact numbers for insurance and financial institutions.
- Contact a funeral home: Contact the member’s preferred funeral home to coordinate burial and/or memorial services. Request numerous copies of the original certified death certificate.
- Notify life insurance carriers through any employers, credit unions, or other associations of which the deceased was a member.
- Contact any other retirement plans such as a deferred compensation (e.g., 457b, 401k), IRAs or other pension systems from which the member was receiving benefits.
- Contact the Social Security Administration to determine whether there are any benefits forthcoming.
- Contact the deceased’s financial institutions and banks regarding her/his accounts and ask about such matters as safety deposit boxes, death benefits, and outstanding loans.
- Contact the Veterans’ Affairs office if the member was a veteran to check on possible death benefits.
What You Don’t Need To Do
- You don’t need to notify health insurance carriers. We will notify medical, dental, and vision carriers for you to end coverage for the deceased member.
What to Expect Regarding Death Benefit Payments
- The member’s benefit will be paid up to the day in which the member dies. Any overpayments will need to be collected. Any benefits not yet paid will be paid out to the member’s beneficiaries.
- If eligible, the beneficiaries entitled to the death benefits will be mailed a letter requesting the documents ACERA needs prior to issuing payment. ACERA will need at least one original certified copy of the death certificate (we’ll return it).
- Upon receipt of the requested documents, the death benefits will be paid to the beneficiaries. In total, the process can take approximately 2 to 3 months.
What to Expect Regarding Continuing Healthcare Coverage
- Survivors of ACERA retirees may maintain their enrollment in ACERA healthcare plans after the death of the retiree. When an ACERA representative calls you to discuss your beneficiary status, you can indicate whether you wish to continue medical, dental, and/or vision coverage. If you wish to cancel any of the coverages, you may choose which to retain and which to cancel. You can also cancel all the coverages if you wish.
- ACERA’s healthcare unit will ensure survivors experience no gap in coverage if they wish to continue the coverage.
- Survivors receiving lifetime monthly continuance payments can continue healthcare coverage in ACERA plans indefinitely under most circumstances. Premiums for the healthcare plans will be deducted from the survivor’s monthly continuance payment check. Premiums for the time period before the continuance payments start will be deducted from later checks to ensure no gap in coverage. (If a survivor’s continuance payment doesn’t cover the premium costs, and they dis-enroll and then try to re-enroll, they may not be able to get coverage.)
- Survivors receiving a lump sum death benefit payment can continue enrollment under the federal COBRA Act for up to 36 months after the member’s death. These survivors will receive a COBRA letter from ACERA with a COBRA election form which they can use to elect to continue coverage.
- Survivors wishing to continue enrollment in ACERA’s healthcare plans will not be able to change plans at the member’s death. They can changes plans during the next open enrollment period.
- While survivors and family members can maintain enrollment in ACERA healthcare plans, no subsidies are available to cover the cost of the coverage, so the survivor must pay the full cost.