Beneficiary/Death Benefits

When you become a member of the retirement system, it is important that you name a survivor pension beneficiary, a refund beneficiary, or request that the default provisions of the law apply.

Name your beneficiary by using miAccount. Once you enter your information in miAccount, you can view and change your beneficiary information anytime with just a few clicks.

The default provision of the law says this: While you are actively employed, if a survivor pension benefit is payable upon your death, the retirement act automatically provides a lifetime monthly survivor benefit to your spouse, or if not married, in equal payments to your unmarried children until they reach age 18.

Note that the default provision only applies if you die while an active member. Be sure that ORS receives your beneficiary designation before you terminate employment - see "If you die as a deferred member" below.

Before giving ORS your beneficiary designation, be sure you have a good understanding of if, when, and to whom a benefit may be payable upon your death. Carefully read the following sections, as well as the Beneficiary Nomination (R0315C) form.

Some of the factors that should influence your decision about whether to name a beneficiary, change a beneficiary, or use the default provisions of the law are: 

• What is your marital status? 
• What is your family composition? 
• What is your vesting status?
• Are you designating a survivor pension beneficiary or a refund beneficiary? 
• Are you active, deferred, or retired? 

If you die while an active member.

Nonduty death. If your death is not a result of an injury or illness incurred at work, it is called a nonduty death. A monthly pension may be payable to your survivor pension beneficiary if you were vested with at least 10 years service (5 years if you were at least age 60). Basic Plan members must have at least 15 years of credited service if they are under age 60, or 10 years if they are at least age 60, for their survivors to be eligible for a survivor pension.

The nonduty death survivor benefit is payable beginning the month following your death. It is calculated as if you retired the day before you died and elected the 100 percent survivor option. Health, dental, and vision insurance coverage is also available to beneficiaries receiving a survivor pension.

If you do not designate your beneficiary with ORS (see Naming a Beneficiary, above) your spouse is automatically your survivor pension beneficiary. If you are not married, your unmarried minor children are automatically your beneficiaries until they reach age 18, marry, or are adopted.

If your spouse waives the pension benefit by signing the  Beneficiary Nomination (R0315C) form, you may designate any of the following eligible beneficiaries if they depend on you for at least 50 percent of their personal support: your child, your brother or sister, or your parent. You must have designated this person on the  Beneficiary Nomination (R0315C) form, and the form must be on file with ORS at the time of your death.

If you have no surviving spouse or unmarried children under age 18, no continuing monthly benefit will be payable unless ORS has your valid beneficiary designation on file and the survivor pension beneficiary you named remains dependent on you/the income provided by the pension.

If you die before retirement and no monthly survivor pension is payable, any personal contributions and interest in your account will be paid to your refund beneficiary in a lump sum. If you haven't named a beneficiary, your contributions may be distributed by probate court order.

Duty death. If you die from a work-related injury or illness incurred during your public school employment, it is considered a duty death. A monthly survivor pension may be payable, regardless of your age or years of service, if a workers' compensation benefit is awarded based on your work-related injury or illness.

The duty death survivor benefit is payable beginning the month following your death and is calculated as if you retired the day before you died and elected the 100 percent survivor option. We will use no less than 10 years of service in the pension calculation, even if you have less service credit at the time of death. Health, dental, and vision insurance coverage is also available to beneficiaries receiving a survivor pension.

If your death is duty related, a monthly survivor pension may be payable to your named beneficiary, as long as he or she meets eligibility requirements, whether you were vested or not. If a valid beneficiary nomination is not on file, the default provision allows duty-related survivor benefits to your spouse, or if not married, to your children until they reach age 18, are adopted, or marry. If you are not survived by a spouse or eligible children, your totally and permanently disabled parent who depends on you for more than 50 percent of his or her support may be eligible for the duty-related survivor pension.

If you die before retirement and no monthly survivor pension is payable, any personal contributions and interest in your account will be paid to your refund beneficiary in a lump sum. If you haven't named a beneficiary, your contributions may be distributed by probate court order.

If you die as a deferred member.

If you die while your retirement is in deferred status (that is, you left public school employment after vesting but before you're old enough to draw your pension), a monthly survivor pension will be payable to your eligible beneficiary provided (1) you have at least 10 years of service credit as a MIP member, 15 years if you're a Basic Plan member; and (2) you designated your beneficiary with ORS before you terminated employment.

You must designate your beneficiary with ORS  before you terminate employment. You can change your beneficiary while in deferred status, but only if your beneficiary nomination was on file with ORS before you terminated. If the nomination you filed with ORS specified the default provision, you must resubmit your nomination to name an eligible person as your beneficiary because the default provision will not apply while you are deferred.

The monthly survivor pension becomes payable beginning the month you would have otherwise become eligible to receive your pension; it is paid as if you had chosen the 100 percent survivor option.

If you die before retirement and no monthly survivor pension is payable, any personal contributions and interest in your account will be paid to your refund beneficiary in a lump sum. If you haven't named a beneficiary, your contributions may be distributed by probate court order.

If you die after leaving employment and before being vested.

If you die after leaving public school employment and before you have sufficient service to be vested in the plan, no survivor pension is payable. Upon notification by your survivor, we will return any personal contributions and accumulated interest to your refund beneficiary or your estate.

Before you leave your job, designate who will receive your contributions. If no beneficiary is on file, your contributions and accumulated interest may be distributed by probate court order.

If you die after you retire. 

A monthly pension is payable only to the person you designated as your survivor pension beneficiary. Ordinarily, this person is named when applying for retirement. However, if you marry after your pension begins, you may be able to name your new spouse as a pension beneficiary under certain conditions.