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What benefits are available if you die before retirement?

If you die while you have an eligible spouse, your spouse automatically receives almost all survivor benefits. Unless designated, your spouse does not receive any possible refund payable from the Plan such as the excess contribution refund. You can update your beneficiaries using OPTrust’s secure Online Services.

BENEFITS TO SURVIVORS

The following chart explains who is eligible to receive the survivor benefit if you die before retirement and what the benefit is:

VESTED

CREDIT UP TO OR BEFORE DEC. 31/86	CREDIT AFTER DEC. 31/86
ELIGIBLE SPOUSE GETS: immediate 60% pension (of what you would have received at age 65)	ELIGIBLE SPOUSE GETS: commuted value of deceased’s deferred pension (choice of lump-sum, immediate or deferred pension)
if no spouse	if no spouse
ELIGIBLE CHILDREN GET: 60% immediate pension (of what you would have received at age 65)	DESIGNATED BENEFICIARY* GETS: commuted value of deferred pension (paid as a lump sum)
if no eligible children	if no designated beneficiary
REFUND RECIPIENT** GETS: your contributions, plus interest (as a lump sum)	ESTATE GETS: commuted value of deferred pension (paid as a lump sum)
if no refund recipient
ESTATE GETS: your contributions, plus interest (paid as a lump sum)

** If you want your children to receive this benefit, you must identify them in this category.
**Adult children who do not qualify as eligible children can be named in this category.

Not Vested

ELIGIBLE SPOUSE GETS:
two times your contributions, plus interest

if no eligible spouse

ELIGIBLE CHILDREN GET:
two times your contributions, plus interest

if no eligible children

REFUND RECIPIENT GETS:
your contributions, plus interest

if no refund recipient

ESTATE GETS:
your contributions, plus interest

Eligible spouse

A spouse is defined as one of two individuals, whether of the same or opposite sex, who:

are married to each other

are living together in a conjugal, common-law or same-sex relationship
1. for at least three years
2. have a relationship of some permanence and are the natural or adoptive parents of a child.

If you die before your pension begins, to be eligible, your spouse must:

satisfy the definition of spouse

AND

must not be living separate and apart from you at the time of termination from the Plan (if applicable) and at the time of your death.

Choice for eligible spouse

For the portion of your service until December 31, 1986, your eligible spouse is entitled to an immediate pension equal to 60% of the pension you would have received at age 65. For your service after December 31, 1986, your spouse has three choices:

the lump-sum commuted value of your pension
a deferred pension, or
an immediate pension.

Your eligible spouse is not entitled to any refund of excess contributions unless he or she is named as a refund recipient.

Eligible child

Under the OPSEU Pension Plan, a child is eligible to receive survivor benefits for your service until December 31, 1986, if the child is under the age of 18, or if over 18, the child is in continuous full-time attendance at a secondary school or, immediately following secondary school, is attending a post-secondary institution to a maximum of five years. Survivor benefits are payable to an eligible child only if there is no eligible spouse.

To receive survivor benefits for your service after December 31, 1986, your child must be named as a designated beneficiary. Payments can only be made to a designated beneficiary if you have no spouse or your spouse had waived his or her right to a survivor pension for this period of service.

Refund recipient

If you die before your pension begins, lump-sum refunds may be payable from the Plan. For your service up to and inlcuding December 31, 1986, a refund recipient could receive a refund of your contributions, plus interest. For your vested service after December 31, 1986, a refund recipient receives any excess contributions. If your services after December 31, 1986, is not vested (is less than two years), a refund recipient could receive a refund of your contributions, plus interest.

You may designate a refund recipient to receive this benefit. Since thses funds are not automatically payable to your eligible spouse, you may want to identify your spouse as a refund recipient. Children, relatives, friends or organizations may also be listed as refund recipients.

Designated beneficiary

A designated beneficiary is the person(s) or organizations you identify to receive survivor benefits for your credit after December 31,1986, in case you have no eligible spouse and you die before your pension begins. In this section, you may name your children, other relatives, friends or organizations. If you have eligible children, they must be listed as eligible children and designated beneficiaries in order to receive survivor benefits. If you name a minor child to receive this benefit, please refer to the Your Pension and Your Beneficiaries booklet for information on appointing a trustee or a guardian of property. Any benefits payable will be divided equally among all the named beneficiaries. If you are survived by an eligible spouse, the designated beneficiary is not entitled to any benefits.

IF NO ELIGIBLE SURVIVORS, DESIGNATED BENEFICIARY OR REFUND RECIPIENT

When a member does not have any eligible survivors, that is, there is no eligible spouse, children, designated beneficiary, refund or payment recipients, any funds that are payable from the Plan will be paid to the estate.

Funds paid to an eligible spouse, eligible children, designated beneficiaries, refund and payment recipients cannot be claimed by creditors of the estate. Funds paid to the estate can be claimed by creditors.

WHEN DEATH OCCURS

OPTrust sends a termination package to every member who ends his or her membership in the Plan. In the case of death, the package is sent to the eligible survivor or the former member’s estate. This personalized package provides details of any survivor benefits.

Notification of death