Transcription
Survivor Benefits
The 11-member OPERS Board of Trustees is responsible for the administration and management of OPERS. Seven of the 11members are elected by the groups that they represent (i.e., college and university non-teaching employees, state, county,municipal, and miscellaneous employees, and retirees); the Director of the Department of Administrative Services for theState of Ohio is a statutory member, and three members are investment experts appointed by the Governor, the Treasurer ofState, and jointly by the Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives and the President of the Ohio Senate.For a current listing of OPERS Board members, please visit www.opers.orgIt is your responsibility to be certain that OPERS has your current address on file. If OPERS is not made aware of addresschanges, we cannot guarantee that you will receive important information pertaining to your OPERS account.This booklet is written in plain language for use by members of the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System. It is notintended as a substitute for the federal or state law, namely the Ohio Revised Code, the Ohio Administrative Code, or theInternal Revenue Code, nor will its interpretation prevail should a conflict arise between it and the Ohio Revised Code, OhioAdministrative Code, or Internal Revenue Code. Rules governing the retirement system are subject to change periodicallyeither by statute of the Ohio General Assembly, regulation of the Ohio Public Employees Retirement Board, or regulationof the Internal Revenue Code. If you have questions about this material, please contact our office or seek legal advice fromyour attorney. OPERS is not required to provide health care coverage to retirees or their dependents and will only do so atthe discretion of the Board of Trustees.
Survivor BenefitsAs an OPERS member participating in theTraditional Pension or Combined plan, in additionto benefits available to you, your survivors mayqualify for benefits if you die before retirement orwhile receiving a disability benefit.Survivors of members who participated in theMember-Directed Plan are not eligible for survivorbenefits through OPERS. Under the MemberDirected Plan, the vested portion of your individualaccount would be available to your qualifiedsurvivors through a refund of your account.OPERS members are allowed to designatea beneficiary of their OPERS account. Thedesignation may consist of primary and contingentbeneficiary(ies). Members who have accountbalances in multiple OPERS retirement plans(Traditional Pension, Combined and MemberDirected plans), are allowed to have a UniversalBeneficiary Designation to cover all their retirementplans, which may consist of primary and contingentbeneficiary(ies).Designating a BeneficiaryPrior to retirement, the beneficiary(ies) for yourOPERS retirement plan(s) may be determined inone of two ways:Automatic SuccessionThe first and most common way is by automaticsuccession as established by the laws and rulesgoverning the plans. The order is as follows:1. Spouse,2. Biological/legally adopted children (sharingequally),3. Dependent parent(s),4. Parents (sharing equally), and5. Your estate.Specific DesignationThe second way is by specific designation, whichrequires you to name a person, persons, trust,estate or an institution as your beneficiary. If youdesignate a trust, estate, institution or multiplebeneficiaries, your account will be refunded in alump sum unless there are qualified children whoare eligible to receive monthly benefits. If youdesignate two or more beneficiaries to receivea refund of your account, you may provide thespecific percentage that each beneficiary is toreceive. If no percentages are specified, eachdesignated beneficiary will receive an equal portionof your account refund.If you participated in the Traditional Pension orCombined plan and have met the requirementsfor survivor benefits, any qualified children will beeligible to receive monthly benefits regardless ofyour beneficiary designation.Ohio Public Employees Retirement System 1-800-222-7377 www.opers.org1
Survivor BenefitsDesignating a Beneficiary ContinuedChanges to Beneficiary(ies)There are certain circumstances under state lawwhen an event cancels or overrides a specificdesignation. Marriage, divorce, dissolution ofmarriage, legal separation or the birth or adoptionof a child makes a prior specific designationinvalid. If, after one of these events occurs, a newdesignation is not submitted to us, the beneficiarywill be determined by automatic succession.If you take a refund of your account, yourbeneficiary designation is automatically canceled.If you later become a member, automaticsuccession will apply unless you file a specificdesignation.If you are also a member of the State TeachersRetirement System of Ohio or the SchoolEmployees Retirement System of Ohio and youparticipate in the OPERS Traditional Pension Plan,the last beneficiary designation among the threesystems if the beneficiary is eligible for a combinedsurvivor benefit from any of the systems.You may make your beneficiary designation ormake changes to a previous designation by visitingour website at opers.org and accessing your onlineaccount or by downloading and completing theDesignation of Beneficiary form and mailing it toOPERS. You may also obtain a form by calling us at1-800-222-7377.Member Requirements for Survivor(s) to be Eligible for BenefitsAs a member participating in the TraditionalPension or Combined Plan, your qualified survivorswill be eligible to receive monthly survivor benefitsif, at the time of your death, you have met at leastone of the following requirements: Had at least 18 months of contributingservice under the Traditional Pension Plan orCombined Plan with three of those monthsoccurring within the two and one-half yearsimmediately before death; Were receiving a disability benefit from OPERS; Were contributing as a law enforcement orpublic safety officer; or Were eligible for retirement under theTraditional Pension or Combined plan, but hadnot retired.If you meet any of these requirements, yoursurvivors may qualify for benefits as described inthe “Survivor Eligibility and Benefit Information”section.2For purposes of determining eligibility for benefits,service credit earned or purchased under theTraditional Pension Plan or Combined Plan is notaggregated.If, at your death, you were eligible for retirementunder the Traditional Pension or Combined planand did not have any children eligible for monthlybenefits, a monthly benefit for your spouse orother sole dependent beneficiary may be paidas though you had retired and selected the JointLife Plan. If the survivor benefit payable by OPERSwould be less than 50 per month, instead of amonthly payment, OPERS will pay a refund of themember contributions and interest. Informationon retirement payment plan options, such as theJoint Life Plan, is available in the OPERS MemberHandbook.Additional information concerning the benefits payable toOhio Public Employees Retirement System 1-800-222-7377 www.opers.orgqualified survivors begins on page 4.
Survivor BenefitsSurvivor Eligibility and Benefit InformationSpouseIf, at the time of your death, you had more than10 years of service credit or your spouse was age62 or older, your spouse would be eligible toreceive monthly survivor benefits effective the firstof the month following your death and payablethroughout your spouse’s lifetime. However, if, atthe time of your death, you had less than 10 years ofservice credit, your spouse would not be eligible toreceive monthly benefits until the first of the monthafter your spouse attains age 62, unless there arequalified children eligible for benefits or yourspouse has been adjudged unable to earn a livingdue to a disabling condition.Child(ren)Your child(ren) qualify for monthly benefits if theyare your biological or legally adopted child(ren)under age 22, who has never been married; ora child, at any age, who is physically or mentallyincompetent at the time of your death.If your qualified children are eligible for monthlybenefits and you had less than 10 years of servicecredit, your spouse may also receive benefits untilthere are no longer any qualified children receivingbenefits. In that case, benefits would continue toyour spouse provided your spouse has attainedage 62. Otherwise, benefits would stop and thenresume the first of the month after your spouseattains age 62.Dependent ParentA dependent parent is one who relied on you forat least one-half of their financial support duringthe 12 months preceding your death. A dependentparent may receive survivor benefits if age 65or older, or at any age if adjudged physically ormentally incompetent at the time of your death.The monthly survivor benefit is effective the first ofthe month after your death or the month followingeligibility.Benefits will terminate upon the earliest of thefollowing: the child’s marriage, adoption bysomeone other than a stepparent, death, entry intoactive military service or attainment of age 22.If you are a law enforcement officer who is killed inthe line of duty, there is no requirement that youhave at least 10 years of service credit or that yourspouse is age 62 or older for your surviving spouseto receive monthly benefits.Ohio Public Employees Retirement System 1-800-222-7377 www.opers.org3
Survivor BenefitsBenefit Payments for Qualified SurvivorsDepending on the eligibility requirements metat the time of your death, your beneficiary(ies)may be eligible for one of the following benefitpayments:1. A monthly survivor benefit based on apercentage of your final average salary (FAS);2. Monthly joint-survivor benefits calculated asJoint Life Plan with a Partial Lump Sum OptionPayment (PLOP); or3.Monthly Survivor BenefitIf you met any of the eligibility requirements (see“Member requirements for survivor(s) to be eligiblefor benefits” on page 2), your qualified survivorsmay receive a monthly benefit effective the firstof the month following your death or the monthfollowing eligibility, based on a percentage of yourfinal average salary.A lump-sum payment of your refundableaccount (if applicable).Number of qualified survivorsPercent of member’s FASMinimum benefit payable125% 250240% 4003 or more50% or more 500The percentage increases if you had 20 or moreyears of service credit at the time of your death.Your surviving spouse would receive an amount ofno less than 25 percent of your final average salaryand all other qualifying survivors would shareequally in the remaining portion of the benefit.4Ohio Public Employees Retirement System 1-800-222-7377 www.opers.orgYearsof servicePercent of member’s FAS2029%212223242526272833%37%41%45%48%51%54%57%29 or more60%
Survivor BenefitsBenefit Payments for Qualified Survivors ContinuedMonthly Joint Life Plan with Partial Lump SumOption Payment (PLOP)If you were eligible for retirement under theTraditional Pension or Combined plan and did nothave any children eligible for monthly benefits,a monthly benefit for your spouse or other soledependent beneficiary may be paid as though youhad retired and selected the Joint Life Plan. Thisbenefit is effective the month following your deathor the month following eligibility and provides forthe monthly allowance to continue through yourspouse’s or other sole dependent beneficiary’slifetime. If the survivor benefit payable by OPERSwould be less than 50 per month, instead of amonthly payment, OPERS will pay a refund of themember contributions and interest.The PLOP is an option that allows thebeneficiary to receive a lump-sumbenefit payment along with a reducedmonthly survivor benefit.The surviving spouse or other sole dependentbeneficiary who is eligible to receive monthlybenefits under the Joint Life Plan may also elect toreceive a Partial Lump Sum Option Payment (PLOP).The PLOP is an option that allows the beneficiary toreceive a lump-sum benefit payment along with areduced monthly survivor benefit.The lump-sum payment cannot be less than six timesor more than 36 times the monthly amount thatwould be payable under the Joint Life Plan and willnot result in a monthly allowance that is less than 50percent of the monthly benefit.If a PLOP is selected, the total amount paid as alump-sum and monthly benefit will be the actuarialequivalent of the amount that would have been paidhad the lump sum not been selected. The PLOP isfully taxable.Lump-Sum Payment of Refundable AccountIf, at the time of your death, your beneficiaries did notmeet any of the eligibility requirements to receivemonthly benefits as qualified survivors, a refund ofyour member contributions, plus interest may bemade to your beneficiary(ies). If you had at least fiveor 10 years of qualifying service credit, the refundmay include an additional amount with interestbased on your years of service.If you are receiving a disability benefit under theoriginal plan at the time of your death, a cashrefund of your account may be available to yourbeneficiary(ies). The refund will not include theadditional amount, previously described, and willbe reduced by the amount of disability benefits thatwere paid to you.If you are receiving a disability benefit under therevised plan at the time of your death, the refundwill not include the additional amount, previouslydescribed, and is not reduced by the amount ofdisability benefits that were paid to you.Ohio Public Employees Retirement System 1-800-222-7377 www.opers.org5
Survivor BenefitsBenefit Payments for Qualified Survivors ContinuedDeath BenefitUpon the death of an age and service retiree or a disability benefit recipient who participated in theTraditional Pension or Combined Plan, a non-taxable, lump-sum death benefit, based on years of service, ispaid to one of the following in the order given:1. The designated beneficiary;Death Benefit Schedule2. The surviving spouse;Years of serviceDeath Benefit3. The surviving children;Less than 10 500At least 10, but less than 15 1,000At least 15, but less than 20 1,500At least 20, but less than 25 2,00025 or more 2,5004. The surviving parents;5. The person responsible for burial expenses;6. Your estate.For members participating in the Member-Directed Plan, a death benefit is not available through OPERS. Inthe event of the member’s death, the vested portion of the member’s defined contribution account that hasnot been distributed is available to the member’s beneficiaries.6Ohio Public Employees Retirement System 1-800-222-7377 www.opers.org
Survivor BenefitsBenefit Payments for Qualified Survivors ContinuedReceiving BenefitsQualified survivors’ benefits may be effective eitherthe first of the month following the member’s deathor the first of the month following the first date ofeligibility.Prior to payment of a monthly survivor benefit,survivors of members who participated in theCombined Plan must agree to transfer both thedeceased member’s defined benefit portion andthe individual defined contribution account of theCombined Plan to the Traditional Pension Plan forthe payment of monthly benefits. For purposesof calculating survivor benefits, all service creditearned under the Combined Plan is treated as if thecredit was earned or purchased in the TraditionalPension Plan.The benefit will be processed, following receipt ofall required information. A copy of the member’sdeath certificate is required before any benefit canbe paid.The OPERS Health Care ProgramRefer to the OPERS Health Care Program Guide oropers.org/health-care for details on the OPERShealth care program and eligibility.For more information on OPERS’ healthcare coverage, visit our website, opers.org,or see the OPERS Health Care Program Guide.Ohio Public Employees Retirement System 1-800-222-7377 www.opers.org7
Survivor BenefitsNotesRemember, you may make yourbeneficiary designation or make changesto a previous designation from your onlineaccount at opers.org. You may also obtaina form by calling us at 1-800-222-7377.8Ohio Public Employees Retirement System 1-800-222-7377 www.opers.org
Survivor BenefitsNotesOhio Public Employees Retirement System 1-800-222-7377 www.opers.org9
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designation. Marriage, divorce, dissolution of marriage, legal separation or the birth or adoption of a child makes a prior specific designation invalid. If, after one of these events occurs, a new designation is not submitted to us, the beneficiary will be determined by automatic succession. If you take a refund of your account, your
