Effective March 16, 2020, the Fund office is closed to the public. As such, the Fund cannot provide notarization services to participants for Beneficiary Designation forms. Until further notice, the Fund will accept non-notarized Beneficiary Designation Forms, so long as valid proof of government issued identification such as a Driver’s License or Passport is provided.

Beneficiary Overview

The Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund (Fund) is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit organization established pursuant to a Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiated between and agreed to by the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) and the American Federation of Musicians (AFM). The Fund is the designated agent of the signatory Producers for the purpose of collecting and distributing residual payments to Musicians who performed services under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

In accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement, a Participating Musician may name a beneficiary of his/her choosing to receive residual payments collected on account of the Musician following his/her death.

Participating Musicians are strongly urged to complete a Beneficiary Designation Form provided by the Fund in order to implement the Musician's wishes after his/her death. A copy of the Beneficiary Designation Form can be accessed here.

Beneficiary Confirmation Process

The Fund relies primarily upon family and friends to notify us that a Musician has passed away. Once the Fund is notified, the Fund begins to gather the information and paperwork needed to establish the correct beneficiary. For more information or to notify the Fund of the passing of a Participant Musician, please click here for the Residual Claim Questionnaire.

If the Musician completed a Beneficiary Designation Form with the Fund prior to his/her death, the Fund follows the Musician's wishes as specified on the Beneficiary Designation Form. If the Musician did not complete a Beneficiary Designation Form and return it to the Fund before his/her death, the Fund will conduct research to determine if the Musician has a living spouse. The Fund will require at a minimum: (1) a death certificate, (2) a marriage certificate, (3) a form of identification verifying the spouse's identity, and (4) an affidavit signed and notarized by the spouse confirming that the Musician and the spouse were still legally married at the time of the Musician's death.

If there is no Beneficiary Designation Form and there is no living spouse at the time of the Musician's death, the Fund will request copies of the Musician's wills, trust documents or any other estate planning documents to establish the correct beneficiary to the residual payments. In such cases, if Probate has been commenced for the Musician's estate, it is the Fund's Policy to wait until Probate is finalized to confirm the beneficiary entitled to receive the residual payments.

Once the Fund makes a final determination of the beneficiary(ies), the Fund will provide an Affidavit to the beneficiary(ies). This Affidavit must be signed and notarized by the beneficiary, and if there are multiple beneficiaries to a Participant's residual payments, an Affidavit will be provided to each beneficiary which must be signed and notarized by each such beneficiary.

If there are any undistributed residuals held at the Fund on account of the Musician, pending determination of the correct beneficiary, those residuals will be issued to the beneficiary(ies) shortly after status as a beneficiary has been confirmed and verified. After the initial payment (if any), additional payments (if any) are distributed on or about July 1 of each year.

For further information on the Fund's Beneficiary Policies, including the Beneficiary Assignment Policy, please click here.