State Dept Beneficiary Designation Documents

Beneficiary designations are forms for assets that are controlled by a contract, such as life insurance or retirement investments.  Specific to the State Department, several forms are used to govern the descent and distribution of a Foreign Service employee's benefits.  Several forms, once hosted on the OPM website, can now be found on myData on DOS intranet-capable devices.  They remain searchable by number and title.    
 
The following documents should be completed when a federal employee makes or revises an estate plan and after major life events like marriage, having more children, divorce, and death of loved ones:  

• Contact Thrift Savings directly for a TSP-3 form, and remit directly to TSP to change those beneficiary designations;  
• Retirement benefits can be changed or updated with an SF-3102 for FERS, SF-2808 for CSRS, or DS-5002 for FSPS and FSRDS; 
• Federal Employees Government Life Insurance (FEGLI) beneficiaries can be modified with an SF-2823; 
• Unpaid compensation beneficiaries can be set up and changed with an SF-1152; and
• Visit your investment management accounts (Fidelity, Vanguard, etc.) to update those beneficiaries.  

      The instructions for each form are very helpful for properly dividing assets between beneficiaries, naming successors, and naming trusts, estates, and charities as a beneficiary. 

Note, in other contexts, the term "non-probate" is often used to describe property like this.  That might include private life insurance policies, IRAs, 401(k)s and anything else a person uses a contract (generally an online portal now) to set instructions for where assets go upon the owner's death.  These designations govern, even if a Will says otherwise.