Senate approves change letting retirees revoke pension beneficiary after family‑offense convictions

The New York State Senate passed legislation on Wednesday that allows state and city retirees to change pension beneficiary designations if the named beneficiary is convicted of a family offense, including domestic violence.

Senator Julia Salazar Webb (floor sponsor) said the law gives survivors “the power to protect their financial future,” allowing retirees to revoke benefits from a beneficiary who has been convicted of abusing them. “No one who has inflicted harm through abuse should continue to benefit from the retirement security of the person that they harmed,” Webb said on the floor.

Senator Murray and others praised the bill as restoring justice and giving survivors a path to protect retirement security. The clerk recorded the roll call as “ayes 56,” and the bill passed.

The measure was described on the floor as restoring the ability of retirees to change pension options in cases where beneficiaries have been convicted of abuse; the sponsor cited the bill’s assembly sponsor, Assemblymember Reyes. The transcript does not include additional implementation detail on how the change will be processed administratively.