The KPERS beneficiary designation form tells the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System who should receive your contributions, interest, and death benefits when you die. Active members use form KPERS-7/99; retired members use KPERS-7/99R. You can get either form from your employer’s human resources office, download it from the KPERS website, or skip paper entirely and update your beneficiaries through your online account at kspers.gov, where changes take effect immediately.1Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. KPERS Beneficiary Designation Form – Retired
Who You Can Name
KPERS limits your choices to three categories: a person, an estate, or a trust. You can mix these across your primary and contingent slots in any combination. Churches, charities, and other nonprofit organizations cannot be named directly.2KPERS. Beneficiary – KPERS Employer Manual If you want retirement assets to eventually reach a charity, the workaround is naming a trust that contains charitable provisions.
When you name a trust, write the trust’s formal name on the “Name” line, for example, “Jane Smith, Trust #1.” A Tax Identification Number is not required.1Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. KPERS Beneficiary Designation Form – Retired Naming a trust adds complexity, though. The trust document itself has to name the individuals who ultimately receive the money, and legal advice before you file is worth the cost.
What to Gather Before You Start
For every person you name, you’ll need their full legal name, Social Security number, date of birth, and their relationship to you.2KPERS. Beneficiary – KPERS Employer Manual The Social Security number matters more than people expect. KPERS uses it to locate beneficiaries when a claim is filed, which could be decades after you signed the form. Missing or wrong numbers slow the payout.
The member information block at the top asks for your own name and KPERS ID number. Fill it in completely so the system can match the form to your account. If you have more beneficiaries than lines, use the official Additional Beneficiaries page from KPERS. Do not attach plain paper or write on the back of the form. The supplement has to be the official page, and it has to be attached to the completed form to be valid.1Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. KPERS Beneficiary Designation Form – Retired
Primary and Contingent Beneficiaries
The form splits beneficiaries into two tiers. Primary beneficiaries are first in line. Contingent beneficiaries receive a payout only if none of your primary beneficiaries are living when you die.3Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. KPERS Beneficiary Designation Form
One detail catches people off guard. If you name more than one primary beneficiary, they share the benefit equally. Same for contingents. The form does not let you assign custom percentages, so there is no way to give 70 percent to one person and 30 percent to another on the form itself.1Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. KPERS Beneficiary Designation Form – Retired If you want an unequal split, the usual path is naming a trust and specifying the percentages inside the trust document.
Naming Minor Children
You can name a minor as a beneficiary, but a child under 18 cannot legally receive the funds directly. Under K.S.A. 74-4902, benefits payable to a minor must be paid to a conservator, estate, or trust, not to a custodian under the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act.4Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 74-4902 – Definitions If you name a minor without a trust or conservatorship already in place, a court may need to appoint a conservator before any money is released. That adds delay and expense. Setting up a trust ahead of time avoids the bottleneck.
If You’re Married and Naming Someone Else
The form has no spousal consent section and no notarization requirement. But KPERS warns married members who name a non-spouse: under Kansas law, a surviving spouse may have the right to claim a portion of the benefits through what is called an elective share, regardless of what the form says. KPERS recommends you make sure your current spouse consents to your designation and that you seek legal advice on how the elective share law affects your plans.5Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. KPERS 1 and KPERS 2 Membership Guide
In practice, KPERS will accept a form naming someone other than your spouse without any spousal signature, but your spouse could later contest it. If leaving your spouse off is intentional, get written acknowledgment from them and talk to an attorney. Not because the form requires it, but because Kansas estate law can override it.
How to Submit It
You have two options.
The fastest is logging into your account at kspers.gov and making the change there. Online updates take effect immediately and replace all previous designations.1Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. KPERS Beneficiary Designation Form – Retired Both active and retired members can use the portal.
On paper, active employees usually hand the completed KPERS-7/99 to their employer’s HR department, which forwards it to KPERS. Retired and inactive members mail the original KPERS-7/99R directly to:
KPERS
611 S. Kansas Ave., Suite 100
Topeka, KS 666036Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. Contact / Visit Us
Do not submit the form by email. KPERS prohibits it for security reasons. Whether you file online or on paper, each new designation replaces everything that came before it. There is no partial update; each submission is a clean slate.
When to Update
Divorce is the single most common place where beneficiary designations go wrong. A divorce does not automatically cancel a beneficiary designation in Kansas, even if you remarry. If your ex-spouse is still listed, they remain your beneficiary until you file a new form.2KPERS. Beneficiary – KPERS Employer Manual Benefits have gone to ex-spouses years after a divorce was final because no one updated the paperwork.
Other events that should trigger a review: marriage, the birth or adoption of a child, the death of a named beneficiary, and any change to your estate plan such as creating or dissolving a trust. You can update your beneficiary any time and as often as you need. There is no limit on changes and no fee.7Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. Beneficiary Information Checking the designation once a year, maybe when your annual membership statement arrives, is a reasonable habit.
What Your Beneficiaries Will Receive
What gets paid depends on whether you die while active or after retirement.
For active members, the primary benefit is your accumulated contributions and interest. If you were vested and eligible for a retirement benefit, your beneficiary may also qualify for a monthly survivor benefit depending on the circumstances.
For retirees, KPERS pays a $6,000 lump-sum death benefit to your named beneficiary, plus any remaining contributions and interest in your account. If you chose a 5-, 10-, or 15-year life-certain payment option at retirement, your beneficiary continues receiving your monthly benefit for the rest of that guaranteed period.1Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. KPERS Beneficiary Designation Form – Retired
One option specific to the $6,000 death benefit: you can direct it to a funeral establishment instead of a person. If you do that, you still need a primary beneficiary listed on the form to receive any other benefits owed.1Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. KPERS Beneficiary Designation Form – Retired