State Public Pensions in Louisiana: when someone dies
A 4-step process for Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System (LASERS) and Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) after a death in Louisiana.
Administering agency
Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System (LASERS) and Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL)
Steps to take
- Identify whether the deceased was a member of LASERS (state employee) or TRSL (teacher/education employee).
- Report the death to the system so the member's pension payments stop.
- Confirm the beneficiary designation and, for a retiree, the benefit option the member elected.
- File the survivor or death-benefit application with the documents the system requires — LASERS Form 03-01 (Application for Survivor Benefits) or TRSL Form 13 (Application for Survivor Benefits). LASERS pays no survivor benefit without a survivor application on file.
Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System (LASERS) and Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL)
Phone: 225-922-0600
Visit the agency website →Frequently asked questions
Contact LASERS at 225-922-0600 or 800-256-3000 for a state employee, or TRSL at 225-925-6446 or 1-877-275-8775 for a teacher or other education employee. Each system handles survivor and death-benefit claims for its members.
The benefit that continues depends on the option the retiree elected at retirement. Under the Maximum Option, no lifetime benefit continues: benefits cease at death, and only a one-time lump sum of any member contributions not yet paid out remains due. The lifetime survivor options instead continue a monthly benefit to the named beneficiary.
Survivor benefits may be payable to a surviving spouse, to minor children, and to physically handicapped or mentally disabled children when an eligible active or inactive LASERS or TRSL member dies before retirement. The amount depends on the member's service and the system's rules, and no benefit is paid without a survivor application on file.
Sources
Data sourced from State Public Pensions in Louisiana primary sources (6 pages reviewed). How we research.
Administering agency
Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System (LASERS) and Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL)