Designation of Beneficiary

  • Published
  • By Dianne Sealander
  • 49th FSS
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Have you updated your beneficiary forms lately? Employees should review their beneficiary forms to ensure their elections are current. A change in marital or family status does not automatically change a beneficiary form that you previously submitted, nor does it prevent the benefactor from receiving the death benefits that you designated. The most common mistake is when an employee names a spouse and later divorces that spouse, but forgets to change the beneficiary form(s).

If you do not complete beneficiary forms, your death benefits will be distributed in the order of precedence established under Federal Statue. The order of precedence is as follows:

· Court order property settlement (if applicable).
· To the employee's widow or widower.
· If neither of the above, to the employee's child or children in equal shares, with the share of any deceased child distributed among the descendants of that child.
· If none of the above, to the employee's parents in equal shares or the entire amount to the surviving parent.
· If none of the above, to the duly appointed executor or administrator of the employee's estate.
· If none of the above, to any other of the employee's next of kin as determined under the laws of the State where you lived.

The following forms are associated with the designation of beneficiary:

TSP 3, Designation of Beneficiary (Thrift Savings Plan)
SF 2823, Designation of Beneficiary under Federal Employees Group Life Insurance
SF 3102, Federal Employees Retirement System Designation of Beneficiary
SF 2808, Civil Service Retirement System Designation of Beneficiary
SF 1152, Designation of Beneficiary for Unpaid Compensation (covers unpaid salary and lump sum annual leave)

The TSP-3 may be obtained from TSP home page at http://www.tsp.gov/; the Standard Forms can be obtained from the Office of Personnel Management's website at
http://www.opm.gov/forms/.

Note: The witnesses to your beneficiary forms cannot be a recipient to the payable benefits.

Filing Procedures: The TSP-3 for the Federal Thrift Savings Plan must be mailed directly to the National Finance Center address listed on the form. The SF 2808 must be mailed to the Office of Personnel Management address listed on the form. Do not submit the TSP-3 or the SF 2808 to the Civilian Personnel Element. Designations are not valid until received by the appropriate agency. All other designations (SF 2823, SF 3102, and SF 1152) should be submitted to the Civilian Personnel Flight, building 222, room 204.

If you have any questions regarding the completion of beneficiary forms, you may contact the Dianne Sealander at 572-5333 or Scott Limbourne at 572-7209.
(49 FSS/FSMCE/572-5333)