Death Benefits

Your Beneficiary
Your Beneficiary's Options
Supplemental Death Benefits
Retiree Supplemental Death Benefits

Your Beneficiary

Your beneficiary is the person you choose to receive your TMRS benefit in the event of your death. You will be asked to choose a beneficiary when you become a TMRS member. When you vest (after five or 10 years of service, depending on your city's plan), TMRS will ask you to examine your beneficiary choice.

When you vest, your choice of beneficiary becomes especially important. If you die after you are vested, and you have not chosen a beneficiary after vesting, here is how TMRS will pay benefits:

• To your surviving spouse;
• If you have no spouse, to any surviving children;
• If you have no children, to the last beneficiary you named before you became vested; or
• If you have never named a beneficiary, to your estate.

Choosing a beneficiary and making sure your choice is kept up-to-date are two of your most important responsibilities as a TMRS member.

Your Beneficiary's Options

If you are a vested TMRS member, but die before you retire, your designated beneficiary has choices about how to receive your benefit.

A beneficiary who is your spouse can choose to:

• select a monthly benefit to begin immediately, payable either for 15 years or for life. The monthly benefit includes the city's matching funds and any other credits that would be used to calculate your normal retirement;
• withdraw (refund) your member deposits and interest in a lump sum (this option does not include the city's matching funds); or
• leave your member deposits and interest with TMRS, where they would continue to earn interest until the date you would have reached age 60. Your survivor's benefit will then be calculated, and your spouse will receive a benefit either for life or for 15 years.

Member deposits and interest may be refunded to your spouse any time after the initial choice, but withdrawing the deposits and interest will prevent your beneficiary from receiving a lifetime monthly benefit.

A beneficiary who is not your spouse can elect to:

• select a monthly benefit payable immediately, either for 15 years or for life. Your surviving beneficiary's monthly benefit would include the city's matching funds and any other credits that would be used to calculate your normal retirement; or
• withdraw (refund) your member deposits and interest in a lump sum (this option would not include the city's matching funds).

If you are not vested at the time of your death, your beneficiary will receive a refund of your member deposits and interest.

Supplemental Death Benefits

Your city may choose to include Supplemental Death Benefits in its retirement plan. If your city has made this election and you die while employed by the city, TMRS will pay your designated beneficiary or estate a benefit approximately equal to your current annual salary, plus any retirement benefits due.

For Supplemental Death Benefits purposes, "annual salary" is calculated as the amount on which you made the required member deposits to TMRS during the 12 months before your death. If you were paid less than 12 months, the amount of salary you actually received is converted to an annual basis to determine a current annual salary.

Period of Coverage

You are covered for Supplemental Death Benefits if:

• Your city has adopted the Supplemental Death Benefits option for all its TMRS members; and
• As a city employee, you are required to make member deposits with TMRS.

You are covered on the first day of the first month in which these requirements are satisfied.

Except as described below under "Extended Coverage," coverage stops on the last day of any month in which any of these requirements is not satisfied.

Extended Coverage

If circumstances cause you to be absent from your city employment for an extended period of time, your coverage under the Supplemental Death Benefits program may be extended if:

• As a result of illness or injury, you are unable to engage in any gainful employment or you are on extended leave under the provisions of the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA);
• You made a required member deposit with TMRS as an employee of a city offering the coverage for Supplemental Death Benefits for the month preceding the first entire month of your absence from work; and
• Your application is approved by the TMRS Board of Trustees.

Extended Coverage continues until the end of the month in which any of the following occurs:

• You return to work;
• The Board finds that you have become able to engage in gainful employment;
• You cease to be a member of TMRS;
• You retire; or
• The city terminates coverage.

An application for Extended Supplemental Death Benefits must be made in writing to the Board of Trustees and must contain a statement from your doctor regarding your inability to work and the length of time you are expected to be away from the job.

Retiree Supplemental Death Benefits

A Supplemental Death Benefit in the amount of $7,500 is paid on the death of a retired employee as long as the city (from which you retired in TMRS) offers such coverage.

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