Beneficiary Designation

Active or Deferred Member Beneficiary Designations and Death Benefits

Active members are asked to name beneficiaries on the Members Enrollment Questionnaire when they first become ACERA members. The form includes personal data as well as beneficiary information and is forwarded to the Retirement Office by the members department. Designating beneficiaries enables those beneficiaries to receive any death benefits payable in the event of the members death. A beneficiary can be a spouse, minor child, or any other person. A member may designate multiple beneficiaries. It is important to keep beneficiary designations current to ensure timely payments to the appropriate persons.

Active members may change their beneficiaries at any time. A beneficiary change form may be obtained from the Retirement Office by downloading the form from the ACERA website. All beneficiary changes must be made in writing and cannot be made over the phone. Assistance in completing the form can be obtained from the Retirement Office.

In the event of an active member death (i.e., death before retirement), the appropriate death benefit will be paid to the beneficiary or beneficiaries the member designated on enrollment or subsequently on a change of beneficiary form. Note that a surviving spouse or qualified child, even if not named as a beneficiary, may have certain rights that supersede the rights of the named beneficiary. A qualified child is one who is unmarried and either (1) under age 18 or (2) between the ages of 18 and 22 and a full-time student at an accredited school.

The basic active member death benefit consists of (1) retirement contributions plus interest, and (2) one months pay for each full year of service, up to a maximum of six months pay.

If the deceased active member had at least five years of service, the members surviving spouse may elect a continuance equal to 100%, or, if there is no surviving spouse, any unmarried children of the member may elect, collectively, a continuance equal to 60%, of the amount to which the member would have been entitled on retirement for non-service-connected disability as of the date of death. Alternatively, a surviving spouse, but not surviving children, may elect a combined benefit including both a lump-sum amount and a reduced monthly continuance payment. A surviving spouses continuance lasts for life and an unmarried childs continuance until age 18 or, if a full-time student at an accredited school, to age 22. For periods during which more than one child is eligible for the continuance, the continuance payments will be divided equally among them. The surviving spouse or children need not have been named as beneficiaries and, indeed, any such election by a surviving spouse or child will supersede and replace payment of the basic death benefit to the members named beneficiary or beneficiaries.

The election described above is by far the most commonly exercised election to replace the basic death benefit. There are also, however, other such elections available in the following situations:

• To a surviving spouse who was designated as beneficiary by a member eligible to retire for service, or to surviving children when the surviving spouse has died; and
• To the surviving spouse of a safety member who would have been entitled to a service-connected disability retirement and died as a result of injury or disease arising out of and in the course of employment, or to surviving children when the surviving spouse has died.

There are additional death benefits available in certain situations in which a member was killed in the performance of duty or died as the result of an accident or injury caused by external violence or physical force incurred in the performance of duty.

On the death of a deferred member, a refund of retirement contributions plus interest will be paid to the members named beneficiary or beneficiaries. Unlike the case of an active-member death, there is no payment of salary and there are no elections available to surviving spouses or children.

To change your beneficiary, download and complete a Change of Beneficiary Designation Form, or request the form from ACERA. All beneficiary changes must be made in writing and cannot be made over the phone. If you need assistance in completing the form, contact ACERA at (510) 628-3000 or (800) 838-1932.

- Last Modified: 02 / 25 / 2004