Sec. 1601.209. ORDER OF PRECEDENCE OF PAYMENT TO SURVIVORS. (a) The amount of group life coverages and group accidental death and dismemberment coverages in force for a participant on the date the participant dies shall be paid, on the establishment of a valid claim, to a person surviving the death in the following order of precedence:

(1) to the beneficiary designated by the participant in a signed and witnessed writing received before death by the appropriate office of the applicable system; or

(2) if a beneficiary is not designated under Subdivision (1), in accordance with the death benefit provisions of Subtitle C, Title 8, Government Code.

(b) For purposes of Subsection (a)(1), a designation, change, or cancellation of a beneficiary in a document, including a will, that is not executed and filed in the manner described by that subsection is not valid.

Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1419, Sec. 3, eff. June 1, 2003.