BENEFITS UPON DEATH OF PARTICIPANT

Death BEFORE Retirement Benefits:

(a)

Lump-sum:  An amount equal to $250 times each Pension Credit, but not less than $1,000 and not more than $2,500, will be paid to the deceased's designated beneficiary. If you  had previously been retired, the amount of any lump-sum benefit at retirement previously received by you will be deducted from the amount of lump-sum Death Benefit payable under this section.

In addition to the lump-sum Death Benefit described above, upon the death of an eligible active participant, benefits as outlined either in (b) or (c) below, but not both, may be provided.

Guaranteed payments:  120 monthly payments will be paid to your spouse, if living, otherwise to your designated beneficiary.  The amount of the monthly payments to your spouse or beneficiary under this section (b) will be equal to the monthly pension amount to which you were entitled or would have been entitled as a Regular Pension prior to your death.  If payments are due under the Husband-and-Wife Pension ((c) below), no benefits will be payable under this section (b) unless your spouse elects, within 90 days after being given written notice by the Plan, to receive this benefit instead of the Husband-and- Wife Pension.

If you are age 45 or older on the date of death, benefits to your surviving spouse will commence with the first month following the month of your death.  If you are younger than age 45 on the date of death, benefits to your surviving spouse will not commence until the first month following the month in which you would have attained age 45 had you lived.

The surviving spouse of a participant who dies before retirement may elect, within 90 days of the date she receives written notice from the Plan, to receive the 120 guaranteed payments (b above) instead of the Husband-and-Wife Pension.  

Death AFTER Retirement:

(a)

120-Payment Guarantee: Upon the death of a retired participant who is not receiving a Husband-and-Wife Pension, 120 pension payments, minus the number of payments made to the retired participant before his death, will be paid to the participant's spouse, if living, otherwise to his designated beneficiary.

(b)

Husband-and-Wife Pension After Retirement: All pensions effective on or after July 1, 1976, will be paid in the form of a Husband-and-Wife Pension unless you and your spouse elect not to receive his pension in that form.  Under a Husband- and-Wife Pension, you will receive a reduced monthly pension payable for your lifetime and, upon your death, your surviving legal spouse, if any, will receive one-half (50%) of such reduced monthly amount for the rest of her life.  The amount of reduction in the monthly benefit payable to you depends upon your age and the age of your spouse on the effective date of pension.  This benefit is in lieu of the Plan's120-payment guarantee otherwise payable.  If you prefer to receive an unreduced monthly pension for your lifetime with the guarantee that at least 120 payments will be made, in total, to you and your beneficiary in the event you die within the first ten years following retirement, the law does give you the opportunity to elect not to receive your pension in the form of a Husband-and-Wife Pension.

If you retire on a Disability Pension prior to age 45, your pension will be paid in the form of a Husband-and-Wife Pension unless you and your spouse elect not to have it in that form. However, if you do not reject the Husband-and- Wife Pension and die prior to age 45, your surviving spouse will not begin to receive the monthly benefits provided by the Husband-and-Wife Pension until the first of the month following the date on which you would have attained age 45 had you lived.

(c)

Level Income Option: This form of pension is available only to participants eligible for an Early Pension or Service Pension who have rejected the Husband-and-Wife Pension.  It is designed to provide approximately the same amount of monthly retirement income before Social Security benefits become payable as after Social Security benefits become payable.  This is achieved by paying a higher monthly pension from this Plan before Social Security benefits become payable and a smaller monthly pension after Social Security benefits become payable.  If a you are receiving a Level Income Option and die before you receives the equivalent of the 120-month guaranteed benefit, your beneficiary will receive the balance, based upon the total guaranteed amount that would have been payable under an Early or Service Pension.

IMPORTANT:  If you have no surviving spouse and pension payments are made to the designated beneficiary, monthly payments will be made for five years.  At the end of that five year period the Fund is required to pay any remaining balance of monthly payments in one lump sum.

BENEFICIARY FORM

The Fund Office provides beneficiary forms to all participants.  You are urged to keep it current at all times.  The form can be used to designate your beneficiary for benefits payable from the Vacation-Holiday Fund, the Health & Welfare Fund and Pension Fund.  Federal laws as well as Plan Rules and Regulations control the payment of benefits to beneficiaries.
 

In the case of pension benefits, death benefits are payable to your surviving spouse, if any, otherwise to the designated beneficiary.  The law does permit a married Participant to designate someone other than his spouse as a beneficiary but only if his lawful spouse consents to his choice of another beneficiary by acknowledging this decision on a notarized form acceptable to the Board of Trustees.  The lawful spouse must give a new notarized consent each time another non-spouse beneficiary is selected by the Participant.

In the event you fail to designate a beneficiary in the manner and form required by the Trustees, or if your designated beneficiary predeceases you or dies before receiving all payments, or cannot be found within two years of your death, your death benefit will be payable to your lawful spouse.  If you do not have a surviving lawful spouse the death benefit will be paid to your heirs or estate as the Trustees decide.

You may obtain Designation of Beneficiary forms from the Fund Office or you may download them here.