Life Insurance:
When an employee enrolls in medical coverage with ERS, they are automatically enrolled in Basic Term Life. This plan provides $5,000 of Basic Term Life and $5,000 of Accidental Death and Dismemberment insurance. The policy is payable to the employee's named beneficiary upon death. The AD&D benefit is payable to the named beneficiary if the employee sustains an accidental injury that results in death. In addition, an employee may have selected additional Optional Term Life up to a maximum of four times their annual salary, which is also payable to the employee's named beneficiary. A named beneficiary is anyone the employee wishes to be the beneficiary of their life insurance. A signed, dated and witnessed Life Insurance Beneficiary Designation form must be on file with ERS. If the employee has not named a beneficiary, then the life insurance will be issued to the immediate family member or executor of the estate, or as written under the laws of the state.
Reporting the Death (Location Benefits Coordinator):
- Contact the District Human Resources office with the deceased's name, Social Security number and date of death.
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Reporting the Death (District Human Resources):
- District Human Resources enters date of death into the ERS system.
- The beneficiary on record will receive directly from ERS the claim forms and information about supporting documents necessary to process claim.
- Complete and submit the ERS Coordinators Statement and provide any additional information as needed for processing the claim.
- The claim form and supporting documents are submitted to District Human Resources by the location Human Resources office. (District Human Resources forwards all information to Fort Dearborn Life.)
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Handling the Death Claim (ERS or Group Life and Health):
- ERS or Group Life and Health will handle all correspondence related to the beneficiary's claim.
- A certified copy of the death certificate as officially filed must be submitted with the claim form.
- If claim is approved, Group Life and Health pays the death benefit to the designated beneficiary.
- The claim payment is usually processed and mailed to the beneficiary home address in four to six weeks.
- If the claim is denied, the beneficiary is notified of the denial.
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Procedures for Final Payroll Check (Location Human Resources office):
- Location Human Resources office inputs date of death into colleague.
- Generate Employee Status Maintenance form.
- Review compensation to insure all funds are included in final pay (vacation if applicable).
- Request a manual payroll check.
4.a. If employee did not have a will:
1. An affidavit of heirship
2. W-9 form
3. A certified copy of the death certificate
4.b. If employee did have a will:
1. A letter of administration from the probate court or a notarized copy of the employee’s will
2. W-9 form
3. A certifed copy of the death certificate |
Teachers Retirement System of Texas (Location Human Resources Office):
District Human Resources processes and submits TRS 8 form once the final payroll check has been processed.
Optional Retirement Program (Beneficiary):
It is the responsibility of the beneficiary to contact the ORP Company about any benefits that might be available to them.