Without any eligible family members or beneficiaries, the benefit will go to your estate, along with any other assets you may own.

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Dear Bennie Fish,

OCERS strongly recommends our members name beneficiaries for their pension benefit.

If you do not have an Eligible Spouse, Qualified Domestic Partner, or Eligible Child at the time of your death, the benefit will be paid to your primary beneficiary. Under certain retirement payment options, this can be in the form of a lifetime continuance or lump sum of the member’s remaining contributions. 

Without any eligible family members or beneficiaries, the benefit will go to your estate, along with any other assets you may own.

According to the County Employees Retirement Law (CERL)*, if the benefit is not claimed within five years after the last attempted contact with the claimant, or if you don’t have an estate, the amount of the benefit will be deposited back into the overall OCERS pension fund.

*Correction: In the printed edition of the Winter/Spring 2026 At Your Service, CERL was incorrectly defined as “California Employees Retirement Law.” It has been correctly revised here as “County Employees Retirement Law.”