(a) The election of a designated beneficiary under an optional retirement plan must not be cancelled by the member after the member’s retirement date, except as provided in this section.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 8-36-606

  • Accumulated contributions: means the sum of all the amounts deducted from the compensation of a member, together with any amount transferred to the account of the member established pursuant to chapters 34-37 of this title from the respective account of the member under one (1) or more of the superseded systems, with interest thereon, as provided in §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
  • 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: means any person, persons or institution receiving a retirement allowance or other benefit as provided in chapters 34-37 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
  • Member: means any person included in the membership of the retirement system, as provided in chapter 35, part 1 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
  • Month: means a calendar month. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Retirement: means withdrawal from membership with a retirement allowance granted under chapters 34-37 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
  • Retirement allowance: means the sum of the member annuity and the state annuity. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) After a member’s retirement date, a retired member may cancel the member’s designated beneficiary for any reason, including, but not limited to, the death of the beneficiary or the member’s divorce from the designated beneficiary, upon the written request of the member; however, a retired member cannot cancel the member’s beneficiary under this subsection (b) after retirement if the retiree has previously cancelled a beneficiary designation under this subsection (b).
(c) If a retired member cancels the member’s designated beneficiary who is the member’s spouse or former spouse, the retired member must include proper documentation with the written cancellation request, which, for a divorce, must include, but is not limited to, the final decree and marital dissolution agreement of the parties. The cancellation must not be in conflict with the decree or marital dissolution agreement.
(d) If a retired member cancels the member’s designated beneficiary, the member may designate a new beneficiary, but upon the death of the retired member, the newly designated beneficiary is only entitled to the remaining accumulated contributions in the member’s account or the member’s retirement allowance in the month of death.
(e) The retirement allowance payable to the retired member after the cancellation of the designated beneficiary pursuant to this section is not affected by the cancellation of beneficiary designation.
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