What to do when a CalSTRS account holder dies

They are two separate designations. The one-time death benefit recipient, named on the Recipient Designation form, receives a single lump-sum payment after the member's death. An option beneficiary, named when the member elects an option at retirement, receives a continuing monthly lifetime benefit. A member can have both, one, or neither. If the member elected the Member-Only Benefit, no continuing monthly benefit is payable to a survivor.

Coverage A (family allowance) and Coverage B (survivor benefit) are the two survivor-benefit structures under the Defined Benefit Program. Members who joined CalSTRS on or after October 16, 1992, are covered under Coverage B. Members who joined before that date were offered a choice between Coverage A and Coverage B in an election held between October 1992 and April 1993. A member can check their coverage in their myCalSTRS account or Retirement Progress Report.

The amount depends on the coverage and the timing of death. Under Coverage A, CalSTRS pays a $7,288 one-time death benefit if the member dies before retirement. Under Coverage B, the amount is $29,152 if the member dies before retirement. For a member who dies after retirement, the one-time death benefit is $7,288 under either coverage. These amounts are periodically adjusted by the Teachers' Retirement Board.

A member completes the Recipient Designation form, either online at myCalSTRS for faster processing or by downloading and printing the form and mailing it to CalSTRS or hand delivering it to a local CalSTRS office. The recipient can be a person, trust, charity, estate, parochial institution, corporation, or public entity, and can be changed at any time.

Yes. A trust, an estate, or another entity can be named as the recipient of the one-time death benefit on the Recipient Designation form. If a trust is the named recipient, CalSTRS requires a Certification of Trust; if the estate is the recipient, CalSTRS requires Letters of Administration or Letters Testamentary. Continuing monthly survivor benefits under Coverage A or Coverage B, by contrast, are paid to eligible individuals under statutory rules and cannot be redirected to a trust.

If there is no one-time death benefit recipient in effect on the date of death, CalSTRS pays the one-time death benefit to the member's estate. Any remaining Defined Benefit and Defined Benefit Supplement contributions and interest not otherwise payable are also paid to the named recipient, or to the estate if none was named.

It can be either or both. If the member died before retirement without a preretirement option election, eligible survivors may qualify for a monthly survivor benefit under Coverage A or Coverage B. If the member elected an option at retirement, the option beneficiary receives a continuing monthly benefit. Separately, the named recipient receives the one-time death benefit lump sum. A Member-Only Benefit with no option produces no continuing monthly benefit after death.

CalSTRS generally pays survivor benefits to beneficiaries or to the estate within 120 days of receiving all necessary information. Payment can be delayed if documents such as the death certificate, marriage certificate, declaration of domestic partnership, or the recipient's details are missing or late. Any benefit payments issued after the date of death must be returned to CalSTRS.