Tennessee § 8-36-125 - Disclaimer of benefits.

§ 8-36-125. Disclaimer of benefits.

A person designated as the beneficiary to receive a death benefit under chapters 34-37 of this title may disclaim the benefit upon the death of the member. Such disclaimer may be made by the person's trustee, guardian, conservator, or attorney-in-fact. If the disclaimer is made by such person's fiduciary, the disclaimer shall be binding on the beneficiary and on any successor fiduciary. To be effective, the beneficiary must not have received any of the benefits, and the disclaimer must be in writing and filed with the division of retirement. Such writing shall: Indicate that the disclaimer is an irrevocable and unqualified refusal by the person to accept the benefit; Describe the amount of the benefit disclaimed; and Be signed by the person disclaiming or such person's representative. If a disclaimer is made under this section, the disclaiming beneficiary's share shall be distributed to the remaining beneficiary or beneficiaries in equal proportions. Acts 1997, ch. 219, § 4; 2006, ch. 870, § 18; 2019, ch. 381, § 11. Amendments. The 2019 amendment rewrote (c), which read: “If a disclaimer is made under this section, the only benefit which shall be paid is a lump sum refund of the excess amount of the member's accumulated contributions over the sum of the retirement allowance payments received by the member, if any. That amount shall be paid in equal proportions among the surviving non-disclaiming beneficiaries, if any; otherwise, the amount shall be paid in accordance with § 8-36-120 .” Effective Dates. Acts 2019, ch. 381, § 14. May 10, 2019.