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At certain times in your life, you may experience events that can affect your and other individuals’ rights under the Plan.

If You Marry

If you get married, you should contact the Fund Office at 301-731-1050 to make sure your beneficiary information is up-to-date.

If you are married at the time your benefit begins (your “effective date”), and your Accumulated Share is $5,000 or more, the normal form of benefit is a 50% Joint and Survivor Annuity. If you elect the 50% Joint and Survivor Annuity, you will receive a monthly amount for life and, if you die before your spouse, your spouse will receive a monthly benefit for his or her lifetime of 50% of your monthly amount. At the time you apply for benefits under the Plan, you may waive the 50% Joint and Survivor Annuity; provided, your spouse consents to your waiver in writing before a Notary Public.

You should bear in mind that the 50% Joint and Survivor Annuity will be provided through the purchase, with your entire Accumulated Share, of an irrevocable 50% joint and survivor annuity from an insurance company. The purchase of this annuity will discharge the Trustees’ obligations to you and your spouse. Thereafter, the payment of benefits under the annuity, and any other matters relating to the administration of the benefit will be the sole responsibility of the insurance company.

If you are married on your date of death and you have an Individual Account balance, your spouse will be treated as your beneficiary for at least 50% of your Accumulated Share.

If you are married on your effective date and you waive the 50% Joint and Survivor Annuity with your spouse’s written consent, you may elect to have your Accumulated Share paid in any of the Plan’s other benefit forms. See Your Payment Options for descriptions of the Plan’s other payment options, and see Applying for and Receiving Your Individual Account Plan Benefit for information on how to apply for your benefit.

If You Divorce

If you divorce either before or after you begin receiving your benefit, you and your former spouse may agree, as part of a property settlement agreement or other domestic relations order, to assign a portion of your Accumulated Share to your former spouse. Under federal law, the Plan can only honor a domestic relations order assigning your benefit to your spouse, former spouse or children if that order is a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO). Under the terms of a QDRO, all or a portion of your Accumulated Share or rights to survivor benefits can be assigned for purposes of paying alimony or child support, or be assigned as marital property rights of your spouse, former spouse, or child. You may obtain a copy of the Plan’s QDRO procedures from the Fund Office at no charge. Additional information concerning QDROs is available through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA). For more information, see www.dol.gov/ebsa/Publicatsions/qdros.html.

If you designated someone who is or will later become your spouse as your beneficiary, that designation will be automatically revoked upon your divorce unless the beneficiary designation is preserved by a QDRO.

If You Enter the Military

If you enter qualified military service, as defined in the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) and then return to covered employment, your employer may be required to make additional contributions to the Plan on your behalf.

To be entitled to reemployment rights, including the right to have your employer make additional contribution to the Plan on your behalf, you must:

• Be absent from covered employment with a participating employer because of your military service;
• Give advance notice of your service to your participating employer, unless notice is prevented by military necessity or otherwise is impossible or unreasonable to give under the circumstances;
• Be absent for military service for five years or less, unless extended service is required as part of your initial period of obligation or your service is involuntarily extended, such as during a war;
• Apply for a job with your participating employer or another participating employer within the requisite time period; and
• Receive an honorable discharge or satisfactorily complete military service.

For periods of military service of less than 31 days or an absence due to a fitness exam, you must report back to covered employment not later than the first regularly scheduled work period on the first day after an eight hour break and after time for travel back home. For periods of service from 31 days to 180 days, you must have reapplied for covered employment within 14 days after military service. For service over 180 days, you must have reapplied within 90 days after completion of service. These limits may be extended under USERRA in particular circumstances.
For information about USERRA, contact the Fund Office.

If You Suffer an Immediate and Heavy Financial Hardship

Generally, you cannot access the money in your Individual Account if you have not separated from service. However, even if you have not separated from service with a contributing employer, under certain cases of immediate and heavy financial hardship, you may be eligible to withdraw a portion of your Individual Account. There are two immediate and heavy financial needs where a participant may withdraw up to 75 percent of his or her Accumulated Share:

• An immediate and heavy financial hardship resulting from unreimbursable medical expenses incurred by you or your dependents, or
• An immediate and heavy financial hardship that will cause you to suffer eviction from or mortgage foreclosure on your principle residence.

The amount of a Hardship Withdrawal may not exceed the lesser of: (a) an amount sufficient to pay the obligation in question, plus any taxes and penalties associated with the Hardship Withdrawal, or (b) 75% of the participant’s Accumulated Share.

Participants who may otherwise be eligible for Hardship Withdrawals are urged to only obtain Hardship Withdrawals as a last resort. The Plan is a retirement plan, and accessing money in your Individual Account prior to your retirement defeats the primary purpose of the Plan—to provide you and your family with additional financial security during your retirement years. Furthermore, a Hardship Withdrawal is fully taxable to you and often is subject to additional excise taxes.

If You Stop Working

If you stop working in covered employment for a period of six consecutive months or more, you may elect to begin receiving a benefit from this Plan as a Distribution upon Severance from Covered Employment. See a description of your payment options and information on how to apply for your benefit.

If You Retire

If you are at least age 50 and you permanently leave covered employment, you may elect to begin receiving a benefit from this Plan as a Distribution upon Retirement. See a description of your payment options and information on how to apply for your benefit.

If You Become Disabled

If you become Totally and Permanently Disabled, you are eligible to begin receiving your benefit regardless of your age as a Distribution upon Disability. You are considered Totally and Permanently Disabled if, as a result of an injury, disease, or mental disorder, you become completely unable to engage in covered employment, and it is reasonably certain such condition will continue during your lifetime. The Trustees will only accept as proof of Total and Permanent Disability either:

• A determination by the Social Security Administration that you qualify for Social Security disability benefits, or
• A determination by the Electrical Workers Local No. 26 Pension Trust Fund that you are Totally and Permanently Disabled for purposes of that plan’s Disability Pension.

If Your Spouse Dies

If your spouse dies before you retire, you should contact the Fund Office to update your beneficiary designation form.

If your spouse dies after you retire but while you still maintain your Accumulated Share in the Plan, you should contact the Fund Office to update your beneficiary designation form.

If your spouse dies while you’re receiving a 50% Joint and Survivor Annuity or 75% Joint and Survivor Annuity Option, your monthly annuity benefit will remain the same.

If You Die Before You Retire

If you are married at the time of your death, your spouse should contact the Fund Office as soon as it’s practical to learn about benefits that he or she may be entitled to receive under the Plan.

Preretirement Surviving Spouse Benefit

If you are married and you die before you’ve begun receiving your Plan benefit, your spouse will be eligible to receive a Preretirement Surviving Spouse Benefit.
The Preretirement Surviving Spouse Benefit is a monthly lifetime annuity based on 50% of your Accumulated Share.

Your spouse should bear in mind that the Preretirement Surviving Spouse Benefit will be provided by purchasing an irrevocable life annuity with 50% of your Accumulated Share from an insurance company. The purchase of this annuity will discharge the Trustees’ obligations to your spouse and thereafter the payment of benefits under the annuity, and any other matters relating to the administration of the benefit will be the sole responsibility of the insurance company.

Your surviving spouse may elect to receive the Preretirement Surviving Spouse Benefit in a form other than a survivor annuity, including a single lump sum. For more information, see Preretirement Surviving Spouse Benefit.

If your spouse is your designated beneficiary, the other half of your Accumulated Share will be paid to your spouse as a Death Benefit, described below.

Death Benefit

If you are married and you designate your spouse as your beneficiary, your spouse will also receive a Death Benefit in addition to the Preretirement Surviving Spouse Benefit described above. The Plan’s Death Benefit would provide your spouse with a benefit based on your Accumulated Share after taking into account the Preretirement Surviving Spouse Benefit.

If you die before receiving your entire Accumulated Share and you are not married, the balance of your Accumulated Share will be paid to your designated beneficiary (or beneficiaries).

If Your Accumulated Share is Less Than $5,000

If you die and the value of your Accumulated Share is less than $5,000, your surviving spouse or designated beneficiary will be paid in a single lump sum.

If You Die After Your Benefits Commence

Generally, if you die after you begin receiving your benefit, your surviving spouse and/or designated beneficiary may elect to receive their portion of your Accumulated Share in one of the Plan’s optional Death Benefit forms, subject to the IRS’s required minimum distribution requirements.

If you elected a 50% Joint and Survivor Annuity or a 75% Joint and Survivor Annuity Option, your spouse will begin receiving surviving spouse benefits upon your death in accordance with the terms of the annuity contract purchased with your Accumulated Share. If you elected a single life annuity, payments will stop at the time of your death.