Primary and contingent beneficiaries

Note: This article is for HR Admins. If you're not an HR Admin and want to learn more about the beneficiary form process, check out this article.

Some beneficiary forms allow employees to designate primary and contingent beneficiaries:

Primary beneficiaries

The Primary beneficiary named on the form receives all proceeds of the insurance policy:

• If more than one beneficiary is named, the employee must indicate what percentage of the benefit they would like each person to receive.

• The total of all percentages must add up to 100%.

Contingent beneficiaries

The Contingent beneficiary receives all proceeds of the insurance policy in the event that all the primary beneficiaries named on the form are no longer living:

• If more than one beneficiary is named, the benefit will be split equally between each person.

• If the employee doesn’t want the benefit to be split equally, a percentage split must be specified.