Have you recently updated your beneficiaries? Whether you are an active employee, a vested former state employee, or retired, it is important to review and keep your beneficiaries up to date.

The number and types of beneficiaries you have depend on your employment status and eligibility for MOSERS benefits.

Active: You may have beneficiaries for life insurance provided through MOSERS and/or employee contributions if you are a member of MSEP 2011 or the Judicial Plan 2011.

Inactive-Vested: You may have beneficiaries for employee contributions if you are a member of MSEP 2011 or the Judicial Plan 2011. However, you won’t make decisions about your future MOSERS pension benefits, including designating survivor beneficiaries, until you apply for retirement.

Retired: You may have beneficiaries for life insurance if you retained optional life insurance coverage at retirement and/or employee contributions if you are a member of MSEP 2011 or the Judicial Plan 2011. You may change your life insurance and contribution beneficiaries at any time. You may change survivor beneficiaries for your MOSERS defined benefit pension only under the following circumstances:

• You were married at retirement, elected a joint & survivor benefit payment option, your spouse passes away, and you remarry. See more information about reporting a death.*
• You were married at retirement, elected a joint & survivor benefit payment option, and then get divorced after retirement. See the Divorce section of our Life Events page for more details.
• You were single at retirement, elected the life income annuity benefit payment option, and then got married in retirement. See the Marriage section of our Life Events page for more details.*
• You elected one of the life income with guaranteed payments benefit payment options at retirement and want to change your beneficiary(ies).

*You have one year from your date of marriage to select a joint & survivor benefit payment option for your new spouse.

Designating a Beneficiary

If a life event occurs at any time during your career, such as marriage, divorce, or the loss of a family member, please notify MOSERS and update your beneficiary information.

To do this, log in to myMOSERS. You can designate a person, trust, organization, or estate as a beneficiary.

The designation will become effective when MOSERS receives your online submission. Once you submit the requested information, your primary beneficiary designation will be listed on your Annual Benefit Statement and in myMOSERS.

If a minor or estate is your beneficiary, it may be necessary to have a conservator or a legal representative appointed before any death benefit can be paid. This could mean legal expenses for the beneficiary and a delay in the payment of insurance. Keep this in mind when naming your beneficiary.

If you have any questions about this process, please contact a MOSERS benefit counselor at (800) 827-1063 or (573) 632-6100.

Types of Beneficiaries

Primary Beneficiary - The person(s) or organization(s) who will be recognized first to receive your life insurance proceeds or any remaining employee contributions.

Contingent Beneficiary - The alternative beneficiary(ies) who will receive your life insurance proceeds or employee contributions if your primary beneficiary(ies) does not survive you.

MO Deferred Comp Beneficiaries

If you participate in the MO Deferred Comp savings plan, a defined contribution plan separate from your MOSERS defined benefit pension, you also have beneficiaries for the funds in your MO Deferred Comp account. You can update your beneficiaries with MO Deferred Comp at any time on their website.