As soon as possible after your death, your spouse or beneficiary should contact the Fund Office to request instructions about filing an application to determine what benefits are available. In order to apply for a survivor benefit, the Fund Office will ask for a number of items such as a copy of your death certificate (a certified copy, if possible), proof of your birth and, if the benefit is payable to a surviving spouse, proof of marital status and your spouse’s age (unless these items are already on file with the Fund Office).
If you do not designate a Beneficiary or your Beneficiary dies before you, pension benefits will be paid to your:
- Surviving spouse; or if none,
- Surviving children in equal shares; or if none,
- Father; or if none,
- Mother; or if none,
- Brothers and sisters in equal shares; or if none,
- Estate.
If you are married and select a Beneficiary other than your spouse, your spouse must agree to the election in writing by submitting a form furnished by the Fund Office. Your spouse must sign the form in the presence of a notary public.
Before Your Pension Begins
There are three types of benefits payable before Retirement:
- 75% Unreduced Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension
Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pensions will be paid on a monthly basis for the remainder of your eligible surviving spouse’s lifetime. However, if the total lump sum value of the applicable Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension is at least $1,000 but less than $5,000, the Board of Trustees will make one lump sum
payment to your surviving spouse instead of monthly payments following consent to the distribution.
- 50% Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension
Only one of these benefits will be payable.
Your spouse may delay the start of a Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension until a date no later than the first of the month following the date you would have reached Normal Retirement Age. Your spouse must make the request to the Trustees in writing. The benefit will be determined as if you had survived
to the age as of the date your surviving spouse elected to begin receiving benefits, retired at that age with an immediate Husband-and-Wife Pension and died the next day.
75% Unreduced Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension
If you are married and die before retiring on a pension (and are an active participant at the time of death), your spouse may be eligible for a 75% Unreduced Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension. Five important requirements must be met for the 75% Unreduced Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension to be payable:
- You must have earned at least 10 Pension Credits.
- You and your spouse must have been married to each other for the one-year period ending on the date of your death.
- You must have earned an hour of work after December 31, 1975.
- You must be an active participant at the time of your death. To be considered active, you must not have separated from Covered Employment at the time of your death. You separate from Covered Employment as of the end of a two consecutive Calendar Year period during which you do not earn at least 1/12 of a Pension Credit.
- Your death occurs on or after April 1, 1999.
The amount of the 75% Unreduced Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension is equal to 75% of the unreduced 60-Month Guarantee amount that could have been payable had you retired on the day before you died. The benefit is not reduced for payment as a Husband-and-Wife Option or for your age at death.
The pension will be paid on a monthly basis for the remainder of your eligible surviving spouse’s lifetime beginning with the month following the month of your death.
50% Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension
After August 22, 1984, if you are married, die before retiring on a pension, and do not meet the requirements for the 75% Unreduced Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension, your spouse may be eligible for a 50% Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension. Three important requirements must be met for the 50% Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension:
- You must have earned the Pension Credit and Vesting Service required for a pension.
- You and your spouse must have been married to each other for the one-year period ending on the date of your death.
- You must have earned an hour of work after December 31, 1975.
If you die after you reach age 55, the amount of the 50% Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension is equal to 50% of the 50% Husband-and-Wife Option amount which would have been payable had you retired on the day before you died, calculated as if you had retired on the day before you died.
If you die before age 55, your eligible surviving spouse will receive 50% of the 50% Husband-and-Wife Option amount you would have received at age 55. The pension will be paid on a monthly basis for the remainder of your eligible surviving spouse’s lifetime. The pension cannot begin until the month in which
you could have started your pension if you had survived. For example, if you died at age 50 with at least 10 Pension Credits, your spouse’s pension could not begin until you would have been age 55. If you died at age 50 with at least five (but less than 10) pension credits, your spouse’s pension could not begin until you would have been age 65.
Notwithstanding any other provisions for a Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension, if you are married and die before retiring on a pension, your spouse may be eligible for a 50% Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension, if certain requirements are met. These are aside from the specific requirements for each
type of benefit payable before retirement and are as follows:
- You must have earned at least seven Pension Credits.
- You must have earned at least 1/12 Pension Credit or were credited with at least 435 hours of work in Covered Employment during the Calendar Year immediately preceding the Calendar Year in which your death occurs.
- Your death must have been due to an injury sustained while working in Covered Employment.
Preretirement Lump Sum Death Benefit
A lump sum payment of $1,500 will be paid to your beneficiary if you:
- Die before receiving any pension benefits, and
- Have at least 10 Pension Credits, including at least 4 Pension Credits earned during the Contribution Period, and
- Do not meet the eligibility requirements for a 75% Unreduced Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension or the 50% Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension.
Caution: If you work at least one hour of Employment in the Sheet Metal Industry that is not covered by a Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Employer and the Union after December 31, 1989, this death benefit is not payable.
After Your Benefits Begin
If you die after you begin receiving pension benefits from the Plan, your eligible spouse or beneficiary may receive a monthly pension, depending on the form of payment you elected. The different forms of payment are described beginning on page 27. There are four types of survivor benefits payable after Retirement.
50% Husband-and-Wife Survivor Benefits
If this option was in effect after your Retirement, your spouse will receive 50% of the pension amount you had been receiving before your death. If your benefit had been reduced for any reason, your spouse will receive 50% of that reduced amount.
75% Husband-and-Wife Survivor Benefits
If this option was in effect after your Retirement, your spouse will receive 75% of the pension amount you had been receiving before your death. If your benefit had been reduced for any reason, your spouse will receive 75% of that reduced amount.
100% Husband-and-Wife Survivor Benefits
If this option was in effect after your Retirement, your spouse will receive 100% of the pension amount you had been receiving before your death. If your benefit had been reduced for any reason, your spouse will receive 100% of that reduced amount.
60-Month Guarantee
If this option was in effect after your Retirement and you die before receiving 60 monthly payments, your spouse or beneficiary will receive 60 monthly payments minus the number of payments you already received. If your benefit had been reduced for any reason (such as Early Retirement, Level Income Option or Partial Lump Sum Option), your spouse will receive the remaining payments of that reduced amount. If you die after receiving 60 monthly payments, pension payments will end the month of your death since the guarantee period has ended.