Survivor Benefits

Your retirement assets, including your pension and 457 account, are assets that can help your loved ones if something happens to you.

Beneficiary designations for your WRS Pension Plan and WRS 457 Plan are made separately for each plan. A beneficiary can be one person, several people, a trust, or an organization selected to receive eligible plan assets in the event of your death. Life situations such as marriage, the birth or adoption of a child, divorce or the death of a loved one can be cause for reviewing beneficiary designations.

Reporting a Death to WRS

For member’s loved ones dealing with the loss of a member, this time can be busy and stressful. As soon as you are able, please contact WRS to notify us of the member’s death by calling (307) 777-7691. Here is information we will need:

• For the deceased member:
  • Full name, address and birthdate
  • Date of death
  • RAIN ID or Social Security number
• Caller or informant’s relationship to the deceased
• Primary contact, if different than the informant:
  • Name, address and telephone number
  • Relationship to the deceased

For Deceased Member’s Receiving Annuity Payments

WRS will stop the benefit and recover any electronic payments issued to the deceased the month after the date of death. Please do not close the deceased member’s bank account until the funds have been recovered.

Death Benefits Process

WRS will determine who the beneficiaries are if any death benefits are payable. The amount of time for a beneficiary to receive a payment depends on the type of benefit, how quickly beneficiaries are located, how many beneficiaries there are, and how long it takes them to submit their benefit application.

Due to member confidentiality, no benefit information is given to anyone except the beneficiaries or the personal representative of the member’s estate.

Retirement Benefit

The death benefit amount a beneficiary receives depends on whether the member was employed at the time of death, their WRS account balance and the number of beneficiaries to be paid. If the member was retired and receiving a monthly payment, the death benefit will be based on the annuity option the deceased chose at retirement.

Who else should I notify about the death?

You may contact:

• The deceased member’s employer, if they were still working.
• The 457 Deferred Compensation Plan, if the deceased had a deferred compensation account. Call (307) 777-7691 and ask for our Deferred Compensation Department.
• The Social Security Administration.
• The deceased member’s health, life, disability coverage, investment plans, financial institutions, etc. active at the time of death.
• If you are the personal representative or executor of the estate, the probate court in the county in which the person died.

Pre-retirees should consider an important distinction between designating a sole beneficiary and multiple beneficiaries for their WRS Pension Plan.

• Sole eligible primary beneficiaries have the choice to receive a monthly retirement benefit based on the deceased member’s length of service and salary.
• Multiple primary beneficiaries must receive a lump sum payment. The payment will be made to each of the multi-beneficiaries in equal shares unless otherwise specified in writing.
• Estate, trust, charity, or other organization named as your beneficiary must receive a lump sum payment.
• Contingent Beneficiaries will receive a benefit only if there is no surviving primary beneficiary.

Some plans require the member’s spouse to be the primary beneficiary if the member is married. See your pension plan handbook for more details on designating beneficiaries and survivor benefits.

If you do not designate a beneficiary and you pass away pre-retirement, a lump sum payment will be made to your estate if you are a member of the Public Employee, Guard Firefighter, or Judicial Plans. If you are a member of one of our public safety plans – Law Enforcement; Warden, Patrol, DCI; Paid Fire; or Volunteer Fire & EMT and you are married, your death benefits will be paid to your spouse. If you are not married, other provisions will apply, depending on the plan.

When a member retires, the pension payout option selected by the member when beginning to draw a monthly retirement benefit will determine how the account is paid out upon death of the member. Visit the retiree survivor information page…

Please note that the 457 Plan allows for the designation of single or multiple beneficiaries, which can be updated at your convenience. In the event of a member’s passing, each beneficiary has the right to claim funds, irrespective of other beneficiaries listed on the account.

In the event of the death of your loved one, please contact Empower Beneficiary Support Services at 1-866-442-3888 to explore survivor options on the account holder’s 457 account(s). For more information, you may also visit the IRS website at https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-beneficiary.