Kentucky Form 6010, the Final Estimated Retirement Allowance Option Selection, is the form you sign at the end of the Kentucky Public Pensions Authority (KPPA) retirement process to lock in how your monthly pension will be paid and who inherits any survivor benefit. You complete it after meeting with a KPPA retirement counselor, and it must be signed, witnessed, and returned before your retirement effective date. KPPA can be reached at (800) 928-4646 or (502) 696-8800 with questions while you fill it out.
When Form 6010 Is Due
Form 6010 comes at the end of the retirement application, not the beginning. You fill it out after your counselor has given you the estimated dollar figure for each payment option, and it has to be completed, signed, witnessed, dated, and back in KPPA’s hands by the last business day before your retirement effective date.
Kentucky law also sets a hard deadline on the beneficiary designation itself: it must be made before the first day of the month you receive your first retirement allowance, and before you file your notification of retirement or request a refund. If you have accounts in more than one KPPA-administered system — Kentucky Employees Retirement System (KERS), County Employees Retirement System (CERS), or State Police Retirement System (SPRS) — one beneficiary designation applies to all of them. You cannot name a different beneficiary for each system.1Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Code 61.542 – Designation of Principal and Contingent Beneficiaries
Choosing Your Payment Option
The heart of the form is picking a payment option. Every option trades monthly income for survivor protection: the more your beneficiary is guaranteed after you die, the smaller your monthly check while you’re alive. Your counselor’s estimate sheet shows the dollar amount for each choice, so compare them side by side before you mark the box.
Life and Years-Certain Options
The Basic option pays the highest monthly amount, but payments stop when you die. Your beneficiary receives nothing beyond any remaining contributions in your account. It suits people with no dependents or with other financial protections already in place.
Life with 10, 15, or 20 Years Certain guarantees payments for at least that many years. If you die inside the guarantee window, your beneficiary receives the remaining payments until it ends. If you outlive it, payments continue for the rest of your life and stop at your death. The longer the guarantee, the smaller the monthly payment.
Ten Years Certain pays for exactly ten years. If you die first, your beneficiary receives the balance of the ten years. Payments stop at the ten-year mark either way.
Survivorship Options
A Survivorship option pays your beneficiary a percentage of your monthly amount for the rest of their life after you die. Form 6010 offers three tiers:
- 100% Survivorship pays your beneficiary your full monthly amount for their lifetime. This produces the largest reduction to your own check.
- 66⅔% Survivorship pays two-thirds of your monthly amount for their lifetime.
- 50% Survivorship pays half your monthly amount for their lifetime, with the smallest reduction to your check of the three tiers.
The Pop-Up Option layers a safeguard on top of a survivorship plan: if your named beneficiary dies before you do, your monthly payment increases back to the unreduced Basic amount. Without the pop-up feature, your reduced payment stays reduced even after your beneficiary is gone.
Social Security Adjustment Options
The Social Security Adjustment options pay a higher amount before you turn 62 and a lower amount afterward, to level out total income once Social Security begins. They come in two versions, with and without survivor rights. The version with survivor rights continues payments to your beneficiary after your death; the version without stops all payments when you die.
Rejecting Monthly Payments
You can also use Form 6010 to reject monthly payments entirely and request either an actuarial refund or a lump-sum payment of your account balance. Choosing this route forfeits KPPA health insurance and death benefits.2Kentucky Public Pensions Authority. Form 6010 Kentucky Retirement System The decision is permanent, so talk to a financial advisor before checking that box.
Filling In the Form
The top section asks for your full legal name, date of birth, mailing address, Member ID number, retirement date, retirement plan, and retirement type. The form uses your KPPA Member ID rather than your Social Security Number as the primary identifier.2Kentucky Public Pensions Authority. Form 6010 Kentucky Retirement System Your Member ID appears on KPPA correspondence and on your annual benefit statement. If you can’t find it, call KPPA before you start.
The beneficiary section asks for the beneficiary’s full legal name and date of birth.2Kentucky Public Pensions Authority. Form 6010 Kentucky Retirement System This is the person who will receive whatever survivor benefit your chosen option provides. Check the spelling and birth date carefully. Errors delay payment after your death.
In the payment option section, mark the option you’ve chosen and enter the estimated monthly allowance amount your counselor provided. If you’re rejecting monthly payments in favor of a refund or lump sum, mark the appropriate line and enter the approximate amount.
Signature Requirements
KPPA will not accept the form without three signatures:
- Yours, as the retiring member, confirming your selections.
- Your spouse’s, if you are married. Your spouse signs to acknowledge the option you picked, since it directly affects what they would receive as a survivor.
- A witness’s. The witness signature is mandatory, not optional.2Kentucky Public Pensions Authority. Form 6010 Kentucky Retirement System
The witness can be any adult who watches you sign. A notary is not required. Missing signatures are the most common reason forms come back, so plan to sign everything in one sitting with your spouse and witness present.
How to Submit the Form
Mail the signed form to KPPA at 1260 Louisville Road, Frankfort, KY 40601.3Kentucky.gov. Kentucky Public Pensions Authority If you’re close to the deadline, use a service with tracking so you have proof of delivery. KPPA also accepts documents by fax at (502) 696-8822.
The KPPA Member Self Service portal at kyret.ky.gov has a document upload feature that may accept a scanned copy. You’ll need your KPPA-issued PIN to log in. Before you rely on the portal for a deadline-sensitive form, call (800) 928-4646 to confirm it’s an accepted submission method. The deadline is firm, and a missed one delays your retirement.
What Happens if You Skip the Beneficiary Designation
If you never designate a beneficiary, or your designation is void, Kentucky law sends any remaining benefits to your estate.1Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Code 61.542 – Designation of Principal and Contingent Beneficiaries There is no statutory order of succession that routes the money to a spouse or children automatically. It goes through probate, with the delays, costs, and uncertainty that involves.
The same default applies if every beneficiary you named — principal and contingent — dies before you do. The estate becomes the recipient by operation of law.1Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Code 61.542 – Designation of Principal and Contingent Beneficiaries The only way to prevent that outcome is to review and update your designation when a beneficiary dies.
Divorce and Your Designation
A final divorce decree automatically terminates your ex-spouse’s status as beneficiary under Kentucky law. You don’t need to file a new form for the revocation to take effect; it happens by operation of the statute.1Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Code 61.542 – Designation of Principal and Contingent Beneficiaries If your ex-spouse was your principal beneficiary, your contingent beneficiary moves up.
If you affirmatively want your ex-spouse to remain your beneficiary after divorce, you must file a new designation redesignating them, and that new form has to be filed after the decree is issued.1Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Code 61.542 – Designation of Principal and Contingent Beneficiaries Without that step, the ex-spouse is off the account regardless of what earlier paperwork says.
Naming a Trust
KPPA lets you name a trust as your beneficiary, but there is a significant trade-off: no lifetime survivor benefit is available when a trust is the named recipient. For a living trust, you must write the trust’s name exactly as it appears in the trust document and submit a copy of the trust with your form. KPPA also requires the trust’s Tax ID, the date the trust was created, and contact information for the trustee or successor trustee.4Kentucky Public Pensions Authority. Beneficiary Designation Form 2035
A testamentary trust, created by your will and taking effect after your death, does not require the same documentation at filing. Charitable and religious organizations cannot be named directly; they must be structured as a trust to qualify.5Kentucky Public Pensions Authority. Beneficiary Designation Change Form 6036
When You Need a Different Form
Form 6010 is for the moment of retirement. If you’re an active or inactive member who is not yet retiring and just want to update who receives your account balance if you die first, use Form 2035 (Beneficiary Designation). If you’re already retired and want to change your beneficiary, use Form 6036 (Beneficiary Designation Change), which retired members can complete through the Member Self Service portal. Both are available on the KPPA website under the forms section or by calling (800) 928-4646.