{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-61.705","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 61.705","heading":"Death benefit -- Designation of beneficiary -- Debt owed at death --","body":"Assignment of benefit.\n(1) (a) Upon the death of a retired member of the Kentucky Employees Retirement\nSystem or State Police Retirement System who was receiving a monthly\nretirement allowance based on a minimum of forty -eight (48) months of\nservice or whose retirement allowance based on a minimum of forty -eight\n(48) months was suspended in accordance with KRS 61.637, a death benefit\nfor the beneficiary of five thousand dollars ($5,000) shall be paid.\n(b) If the retired member had more than one (1) account in the Kentucky\nEmployees Retirement System or State Police Retirement System, or was\neligible for a benefit under KRS 78.5538 from the County Employees\nRetirement System, th e systems shall pay only one (1) five thousand dollar\n($5,000) death benefit to the named beneficiary. Each system's cost shall be\nprorated between the systems based upon the level of service credit in each\nsystem.\n(c) Application for the death benefit mad e to the Kentucky Retirement Systems\nshall include acceptable evidence of death and of the eligibility of the\napplicant to receive the death benefit.\n(2) (a) The death benefit shall be paid to a beneficiary named by the retired member.\nUpon retirement or a ny time thereafter, the retired member may designate on\nthe form prescribed by the board, death benefit designation, a person, the\nretired member's estate, a trust or trustee, or a licensed funeral home, as the\nbeneficiary of the death benefit provided by this section or KRS 78.5538. The\nbeneficiary for the death benefit may or may not be the same beneficiary\ndesignated in accordance with KRS 61.590(1) but only one (1) designation\nshall be available to a retired member who has service in both the County\nEmployees Retirement System and the Kentucky Retirement Systems.\n(b) If the beneficiary designated under this section is a person and that person\ndies prior to the member, or if the beneficiary was the retired member's\nspouse and they were divorced on the dat e of the retired member's death, then\nthe retired member's estate shall become the beneficiary, unless the retired\nmember has filed a subsequent death benefit designation.\n(c) If a licensed funeral home is designated as beneficiary and the licensed\nfuneral home cannot be reasonably identified or located by Kentucky\nRetirement Systems at the time of the retired member's death, then the retired\nmember's estate shall become the beneficiary of the death benefit.\n(3) The five thousand dollar ($5,000) death benef it paid to the designated beneficiary\nshall not be subject to garnishment as an asset of the retired member's estate, except\nif:\n(a) At the time of the retired member's death, a debt to the Kentucky Retirement\nSystems remains on his or her account, the bal ance owed shall be deducted\nfrom the five thousand dollar ($5,000) death benefit;\n(b) After the death of the retired member, an overpayment of benefits occurs, the\nbalance owed for the overpayment may be deducted from the five thousand\ndollar ($5,000) death benefit; or\n(c) At the time of the retired member's death, the designated beneficiar y is the\nretired member's estate.\n(4) Upon the death of a retired member, the death benefit provided pursuant to this\nsection may be assigned by the designated beneficiary to a bank or licensed funeral\nhome.","path":["KRS Chapter 61"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=54862","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:49:16Z","sha256":"98397c0cdbb48d679f41f4d17061986e9bae6c8cef1694765f4c9319cfc81da1","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-61.703","next":"us-ky/krs-61.706"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}