FAST FACTS
- If you are an eligible Active Electrical Worker Employee or an eligible Active Non-Bargaining Unit Employee at the time of your death, your beneficiary will receive a benefit of $50,000.
- If you are an Eligible Retired Employee at the time of your death, your beneficiary will receive a benefit of $12,000.
- H Plan Employees, Surviving Spouses and Dependents are not eligible for Death Benefits
Note: This benefit provided for Standard Plan (full) coverage only; no provision for “H” Plan (limited) coverage.
In the event of your death, your beneficiary may receive a benefit, the amount of which depends on your eligibility category at the time of your death.
What You Need To Do
Make sure you have a beneficiary (or beneficiaries) listed and on file at the Fund Office. Your beneficiary must submit a certified copy of your death certificate and request the Death Benefit in writing within one year of the date of your death.
Eligible Active Electrical Worker or Active Non-Bargaining Unit Employee
If you die while you are an Active Electrical Worker or an Active Non-Bargaining Unit Employee, your beneficiary will receive a Death Benefit of $50,000. Surviving Spouses and Dependents are not eligible for benefits under the Death Benefits provision.
Eligible Retired Employee
If you retired on or after July 1, 1971, your beneficiary will receive a Death Benefit of $12,000 upon your death. However, if you retired before age 60 on a disability pension and remain disabled, your beneficiary is entitled to the full Death Benefit of $50,000 until you reach age 62. At that time, the regular retiree Death Benefit of $12,000 takes effect.
Designating Your Beneficiary
You may designate one or more persons to receive any benefit(s) payable under the Plan at your death by completing a form provided by the Fund Office. Any change of beneficiary also must be made by completing a new form. No designation or change is accepted by the Fund Office on or after the date of your death.
If you fail to designate a beneficiary or if your beneficiary (or one of your beneficiaries) does not survive you, any Death Benefit is paid in the following order:
- Your surviving spouse, if any;
- Your designated beneficiary for your Electrical Workers Local No. 26 Individual Account Plan, if any;
- Your designated beneficiary for the Pension Plan, if any;
- Your surviving child(ren), in equal shares, if any;
- Your surviving natural parent(s), in equal shares, if any;
- Your estate, care of the personal representative of such estate.
If a participant has no spouse at the time of his or her death, but he or she previously designated a spouse as beneficiary and subsequently obtained a divorce from that spouse, it shall be presumed that the divorce nullified the beneficiary designation unless the Trustees determine, based upon written documentation, that the participant reaffirmed the election of his or her former spouse as beneficiary after the effective date of the divorce.
If you designate a minor as your beneficiary, you must also designate a custodian to receive payment for the benefit of the minor, under the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act. Otherwise, any Death Benefit payable to a minor is paid to the legally appointed guardian of the minor.