19-20-1006. When beneficiaries designated — eligible beneficiaries — right to renounce. (1) Upon first becoming an active member of the retirement system, the member shall designate one or more primary beneficiaries and may designate one or more contingent beneficiaries.

Terms Used In Montana Code 19-20-1006

  • account balance: means the sum of all the amounts deducted from the compensation of a member or paid by a member and credited to the member's individual account in the annuity savings account, together with interest, minus any amount deducted for correction of errors and the aggregate amount of all retirement benefit payments and refunds of accumulated contributions paid to or on behalf of the member. See Montana Code 19-20-101
  • Alternate beneficiary: means an estate or an individual not designated as a beneficiary but that becomes a beneficiary pursuant to 19-20-1005. See Montana Code 19-20-101
  • Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Beneficiary designation: means the process that the retirement system prescribes pursuant to this chapter by which a person authorized by law designates one or more beneficiaries. See Montana Code 19-20-101
  • Beneficiary designation record: means either the hard copy form or electronic record prescribed by the retirement system and used by a person authorized by law to designate one or more beneficiaries. See Montana Code 19-20-101
  • Benefit recipient: means a retired member, a joint annuitant, or a beneficiary who is receiving a retirement allowance. See Montana Code 19-20-101
  • Contingent beneficiary: Receiver of property or benefits if the first named beneficiary fails to receive any or all of the property or benefits in question before his (her) death.
  • Contingent beneficiary: means a designated beneficiary with the right to receive any benefit or refund of accumulated contributions payable if there is no eligible primary beneficiary. See Montana Code 19-20-101
  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Designated beneficiary: means one or more primary beneficiaries or contingent beneficiaries designated pursuant to 19-20-1006. See Montana Code 19-20-101
  • Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
  • Individual: means a human being. See Montana Code 19-20-101
  • Joint annuitant: means the one person that a retired member who has elected an optional allowance under 19-20-702(2), (4), or (5) has designated to receive a retirement allowance upon the death of the retired member. See Montana Code 19-20-101
  • Member: means a person who has an individual account in the annuity savings account. See Montana Code 19-20-101
  • Primary beneficiary: means a designated beneficiary with a first right to receive any benefit or refund of accumulated contributions payable upon the death of the individual authorized by law to make the designation. See Montana Code 19-20-101
  • Probate: Proving a will
  • Trustor: The person who makes or creates a trust. Also known as the grantor or settlor.

(2)(a) At the time of retirement, the member’s beneficiary designations under subsection (1) are void and the member shall designate a joint annuitant or make a new beneficiary designation as provided in this subsection (2).

(b)A member who elects a normal form retirement allowance or a 10-year or 20-year period certain allowance under 19-20-702(3) shall designate one or more primary beneficiaries and may designate one or more contingent beneficiaries.

(c)A member who elects a joint and survivor annuity under 19-20-702(2) shall designate one individual as the member’s joint annuitant and is prohibited from designating a beneficiary.

(3)A designated beneficiary must be one of the following expressly identified by the designator in a beneficiary designation record as a primary or contingent beneficiary:

(a)a named individual;

(b)the member’s estate; or

(c)a legally existing trust created by the member as trustor or grantor.

(4)(a) If the member’s estate or trust is designated as a primary beneficiary, no other primary and no contingent beneficiary may be designated.

(b)If the member’s estate or trust is designated as a contingent beneficiary, no other contingent beneficiaries may be designated.

(5)(a) An eligible beneficiary is a designated beneficiary or alternate beneficiary entitled to receive payment of all or a share of a refund of a member’s account balance, a monthly retirement allowance, or a lump-sum payment of the actuarially determined present value of the remaining payments under a period certain retirement allowance due to the death of a member or benefit recipient, based on the criteria set forth in this section.

(b)For an individual to be an eligible beneficiary, the individual must:

(i)survive at the time the distribution is to be made; and

(ii)have a social security number.

(c)For the estate of the decedent to be an eligible beneficiary, the estate must:

(i)be in formal or informal probate at the time the distribution is to be made;

(ii)have a court-appointed personal representative; and

(iii)have a tax identification number.

(d)For a trust created by the decedent to be an eligible beneficiary, the trust at the time the distribution is to be made must:

(i)legally exist;

(ii)be irrevocable;

(iii)have a tax identification number.

(6)The eligible beneficiary or beneficiaries are determined at the time the first distribution is to be made by the retirement system as a result of the death of a decedent in the following order of priority to:

(a)one or more primary designated beneficiaries;

(b)one or more contingent designated beneficiaries; or

(c)one or more alternate beneficiaries.

(7)An individual who is a designated beneficiary may renounce the individual’s beneficiary interest. A renunciation must be made of the beneficiary’s entire interest. A partial renunciation may not be made. A beneficiary who renounces the beneficiary’s interest is deemed to have predeceased the designator.