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On-Line Beneficiary Designation of Non-Spouses
Benefits & Compensation
On-Line Beneficiary Designation of Non-Spouses
Exchange ideas about health plans, retirement, work/life benefits, and employee assistance.
While it seems to make infinite sense to have an on-line Beneficiary Designation application so employees can more easily check/change their benificiaries (with the proper IT password security of cour
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Forums » Topic Forums » Benefits & Compensation » On-Line Beneficiary Designation of Non-Spouses
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On-Line Beneficiary Designation of Non-Spouses
posted at 1/10/2010 2:52 AM EST
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Posts: 4
First: 1/10/2010 Last: 1/12/2010 |
While it seems to make infinite sense to have an on-line Beneficiary Designation application so employees can more easily check/change their benificiaries (with the proper IT password security of course); what do people do about the ERISA requirement to have a spouse sign the form if he/she is not the primary beneficiary? |
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On-Line Beneficiary Designation of Non-Spouses
posted at 1/11/2010 6:03 AM EST
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Posts: 2146
First: 2/15/2006 Last: 9/14/2011 |
This is one manual process where the spouse's signature MUST be given and I don't know any companies that allow that second signature to be electronic. Mostly due to the possibility of fraud. But then again some of the people trying to override spousal beneficiaries are doing so without the spouse's permission. So if anything, you would want to make it a HARDER process not easier -- at least for ERISA-based plans that require the spouses signature.
As for a process,if the employee makes the change online, then I would suggest the system output a letter/form to the employee's home address that states the need for the spouses signature and reiterates that the change will not be effective without it. But honestly, when the employee goes online to try to change it, I would direct them to the appropriate HR contact rather than getting in the middle electronically. There are just some HR processes that can't yet be done electronically and this is one of them. |
Forums » Topic Forums » Benefits & Compensation » On-Line Beneficiary Designation of Non-Spouses
