BENEFITS TO SURVIVORS 33
Does the Fund pay any benefits to my Surviving Spouse upon my death? Yes. If you are married and meet certain additional requirements stated in the Plan, federal law requires that your pension benefits be paid as a Husband and Wife Pension. A Husband and Wife Pension provides a benefit to your surviving spouse if he or she survives you. As explained below, you and your spouse may waive the Husband and Wife Pension. What is a Husband and Wife Pension? Under a Husband and Wife Pension, a lifetime benefit is provided to your spouse following your death. If a pension is payable to you, it will automatically be paid in the form of a Husband and Wife Pension unless both you and/or your spouse have filed with the Trustees, in writing and notarized, a timely rejection of this form of pension as discussed in this section. Under a Husband and Wife Pension, the amount of the monthly pension payable to you upon retirement is reduced, so that after your death, 50% of the benefit amount you were receiving will be paid to your surviving spouse for his or her life. The amount by which your benefit is actuarially reduced depends on the difference between your age and your spouse s age, rounded to the nearest year. Generally, your monthly payment will be 96% of the full monthly amount plus 0.3% for each year that your spouse is older than you (up to 99%) or minus 0.3% for each year that your spouse is younger than you. Since the reduction varies from case to case, the Fund Office will furnish you with the amounts applicable to you upon retirement. 34
Here is an example of the amounts an employee and her husband might receive under the Husband and Wife Survivor Pension. Mrs. Jones is planning on retiring from employment with a Contributing Employer when she earns twenty-five (25) Pension Credits. At that time she will be 65 years old, and her husband will be 60 years old. She wants to know how much her monthly payment will be reduced if she and her spouse do not validly waive the Husband and Wife Pension. If Mrs. Jones meets all other requirements for a Regular Pension (and retired after July 1, 2002), her unadjusted monthly payment would be 25 x $5.60 = $140.00 per month. Due to her and her husband s relative ages, the monthly Husband and Wife Pension payment to Mrs. Jones will be $132.30 ($133.00 rounded) per month for her lifetime. If she dies before her husband, he will receive half of that amount, or $67.00 ($66.50 rounded) for the remainder of his life. Mrs. Jones benefit is calculated as follows: (96% - [5 x 0.3%]) x $140 = $132.30. What is a Qualified Optional Survivor Annuity ( QOSA )? Effective for applications made on or after January 1, 2008, a new form of spousal survivor benefit, the Qualified Optional Survivor Annuity ( QOSA ), was added to the Plan. The QOSA works the same way as the Husband and Wife Pension, except that if your spouse survives you, the monthly amount payable to him or her for the rest of his or her life will be 75% of the amount that was paid to you upon retirement. 35
Can I waive a Husband and Wife Pension? When you apply for a pension, you will be given the opportunity to waive the Husband and Wife Pension and instead elect the QOSA or the 60-Month Guarantee form of payment (described on page 38.) A waiver of the Husband and Wife Pension in favor of the 60-Month Guarantee will not be valid unless it is signed by your spouse, properly notarized and received by the Fund Office within 180 days of your retirement date. You may revoke the waiver of the Husband and Wife Pension without your spouse s consent at any time prior to the date on which you commence receiving pension benefits. However, your spouse may not revoke his or her consent to waive the Husband and Wife Pension once it has been given. Does the Husband and Wife Pension or a QOSA apply if I was married very recently? In order to receive benefits under the Husband and Wife Pension or the QOSA, you and your spouse must have been married for at least one year before your pension payments begin. What Happens to the Husband and Wife Pension if my Spouse Dies or we Divorce Before my Pension Payments begin? If your spouse dies or you and your spouse divorce before your pension payments begin, the Husband and Wife Pension or the QOSA, as applicable, will not be paid and your pension will be paid to you at the full, unadjusted amount. However, once pension payments begin, the amount of your pension will not be changed in the event your spouse predeceases you or you divorce. Benefits may be paid to your former spouse if a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) is timely submitted to the Plan and gives your former spouse a right to receive all or a part of your pension. 36
Are there Any Benefits for a Surviving Spouse if I die before going on a Pension? There are two situations in which your surviving spouse will receive a benefit under this Plan if you die before the commencement of pension payments. Death Before Normal Retirement Age If you die before reaching Normal Retirement Age, your surviving spouse will be eligible to receive a monthly benefit under the Husband and Wife Pension if: You were vested at the time of your death; and Both you and your spouse have not filed a written waiver of the Husband and Wife Pension; and You were married to your surviving spouse at the time of your death and for at least one year immediately prior to your death. The benefits will be calculated as if you had retired on the later of the day before your death or the date you would reach age 55. Your surviving spouse will begin receiving the monthly benefit equal to 50% of the amount of the adjusted benefit that you would have received, as of the earliest date following your death when you could have started to receive your pension. However, your spouse may elect to delay commencement of the Husband and Wife Pension until a later date but not beyond the first of the month on or immediately before the date on which you would have reached age 70½, or if later, December 1st of the calendar year following the year of your death. Monthly benefits to your spouse end with the month in which your spouse dies. Death After Normal Retirement Age Your surviving spouse will receive benefits if you die after Normal Retirement Age while still active in Covered Employment and entitled to a pension. In the event of your death after Normal Retirement Age, the survivor benefit will be a lifetime payment to your spouse in the amount payable under the Husband and Wife Pension, calculated as if you had retired the day before your death. (See example on page 35). The Husband and Wife Pension will be paid automatically unless both you and your spouse gave written and notarized notice to the contrary to the Fund Office at any time before the effective date of your pension. 37
Are there any other Survivor Benefits other than a Husband and Wife Pension or a QOSA? Yes. If you are retiring and are entitled to receive a Regular, Reduced, Early, Disability or Vested Pension, to be paid other than in the form of a Husband and Wife Pension or a QOSA, your benefit will be paid in the form of a 60-Month Guarantee Pension discussed below. If you are married, you may elect the 60-Month Guarantee only if your spouse rejects the Husband and Wife Pension, in a notarized writing. Any waiver of the Husband and Wife Pension is not valid if made more than 180 days before the commencement date of your pension payments. With the 60-Month Guarantee Pension, you will receive a monthly benefit for life. If you die before you have received 60 monthly payments, your spouse or other designated beneficiary will continue to receive monthly benefit payments until a total of 60 monthly payments have been made to you and your beneficiary, at which time payments will stop. You may designate a primary and a secondary beneficiary. In this case, your primary beneficiary will be paid the remaining payments up to a total of 60 monthly payments. Should the primary beneficiary die before a total of 60 monthly payments have been made to both of you, the remaining payments will be paid to your secondary beneficiary. In the absence of a designation of a second beneficiary, or in the event of the death of the second beneficiary before a total of 60 monthly payments have been made, payment will be made to your estate. You may also designate that two beneficiaries will share the balance of the 60 payments equally. If, at the time of your death, you are an active Participant, are not married and are eligible to receive, but have not started to receive, payment of your pension benefit, your designated beneficiaries will receive 60 monthly payments equal to the amount of the Pension you would have received if you had retired the day before you died. If at the time of your death or disability you are in Qualified Military Service, you will be deemed to be an active Participant as of the date of your death for the purpose of this benefit. If you were formerly in the HCIPF, and you last worked in Covered Employment prior to January 1, 2002, you received a 36-Month (3 Year) Guarantee option form payment. The 36-Month Guarantee works the same way as the 60-Month Guarantee optional form of payment, except it is for 36, instead of 60, months. 38
When am I eligible to Receive A Lump Sum Distribution from the Plan? If your pension benefit under the Plan is less than or equal to $10 per month and has a lump sum present value of $1,000 or less, such benefit shall be paid as a single lump sum equal to the present value of the benefit which you would otherwise receive, as determined in accordance with the Plan s actuarial factors. If your pension benefit is less than or equal to $10 per month, but its lump sum present value exceeds $1,000, you must consent to receive a lump sum distribution. In the event a monthly pension benefit under the Plan is greater than $10, but less than or equal to $20, you have the option of receiving either a lump sum benefit or monthly pension benefits. 39
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