- If the Effective Date of a pension payable to a married Participant is after December 31,
1984, the benefit is to be paid as a Husband-and-Wife Pension unless:
- the Participant and Spouse elect otherwise in accordance with Section 5.02(e); or
- the Spouse is not a Qualified Spouse as defined below; or
- the benefit is payable only in a single sum, under Section 6.05(a).
- A Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension is payable as described in this Article when a married
Participant (1) dies after August 22, 1984 but before his pension payments have started, (2) has attained
Vested Status, and (3) has at least one (1) Hour of Service (including paid leave) after August 22, 1984.
- For purposes of this Plan, a Spouse is a person to whom a Participant is considered married under
applicable law and, if and to the extent provided in a Qualified Domestic Relations Order as defined in
ERISA, a Participant's former Spouse.
- To be eligible to receive the survivor's pension in accordance with a Husband-and-Wife Pension or a
Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension, the Spouse must be a "Qualified Spouse". A Spouse is a Qualified
Spouse if the Participant and Spouse were married throughout the year ending with the date the Participant's
pension payments start or, if earlier, the date of death. A spouse is also a Qualified Spouse if the
Participant and Spouse became married within the year immediately preceding the date the Participant's
pension payments start and they were married for at least a year before his death.
A former spouse is a "Qualified Spouse" if the couple has divorced after being married for at least
twelve months and the former spouse is required to be treated as a Spouse or a surviving Spouse under
a Qualified Domestic Relations Order.
- Effective January 1, 1985, the pension of a Participant who is married to a Qualified
Spouse on the date his pension payments start will be paid in the form of a Husband-and-Wife Pension,
unless a valid waiver of that form of payment has been filed with the Plan. This includes a
Disability Pension that is payable.
- A Husband-and-Wife Pension means that the Participant will receive an adjusted monthly amount for life
and, if the Participant dies before his Qualified Spouse, the latter will receive a monthly benefit for her
lifetime of 50% of the Participant's adjusted monthly amount. The Participant's monthly amount will be a
percentage of the full monthly amount otherwise payable as a single life pension (after adjustment, if any,
for early retirement) as follows:
- If the Participant's pension is not a Disability Pension, the percentage will be 89% plus 0.4% for
each full year that the Spouse is older than the Participant and minus 0.4% for each full year that
the Spouse is younger than the Participant; provided, however, that the resulting percentage may not
be greater than 99%.
- If the Participant's pension is a Disability Pension, the percentage will be 79% plus 0.4% for
each full year that the Spouse is older than the Participant and minus 0.4% for each full year that
the Spouse is younger than the Participant; provided, however, that the resulting percentage may not
be greater than 88%.
- A Husband-and-Wife Pension, once payments have begun, may not be revoked nor the Pensioner's benefits
increased by reason of subsequent divorce or death of the Spouse before that of the Participant.
- A retiring Participant and Spouse shall be advised by the Trustees of the effect of payment on the
basis of the Husband-and-Wife Pension, including a comparison of the full single life pension amount and
of the adjusted amount.
- The Husband-and-Wife Pension may be rejected in favor of another form of distribution (or a previous
rejection may be revoked) only as follows:
- The Participant must file the rejection in writing in such form as the Trustees may prescribe.
The Participant's Spouse must acknowledge the effect of the rejection and must consent to it in
writing. The Spouse must also consent to a specified Beneficiary or Beneficiaries and to a specified
optional benefit form. The Spouse's consent must be witnessed by a Notary Public. The Participant
may not subsequently change the designated Beneficiary or Beneficiaries or the optional benefit form
without the consent of the Spouse, or
- The Participant must establish to the satisfaction of the Trustees that a rejection is not
required because:
- the Participant is not married;
- the Spouse whose consent would be required cannot be located; or
- consent of the Spouse cannot be obtained because of extenuating circumstances, as provided
in IRS regulations.
- To be timely, a rejection of the Husband-and-Wife Pension and any required consent must be filed
within the Election Period defined in Section 6.05(b). To be valid, such a rejection must be made
after the Participant and Spouse have been provided with information which includes a general explanation
of the Husband-and-Wife Pension, the circumstances in which it will be provided unless the Participant
and Spouse elect otherwise, the availability of such an election, the estimated effect of the
Husband-and-Wife Pension and the eligibility conditions and other material features of the optional
forms of benefits provided under the Plan including the relative values of the optional forms. The
Participant and Spouse may revoke a previous rejection or file a new rejection at any time during the
Election Period and after the receipt of the information referred to in this subsection.
- A Spouse's consent to a rejection shall be effective only with respect to that Spouse.
- If the Husband-and-Wife Pension would be payable except for the fact that the Spouse is not a Qualified
Spouse on the date the Participant's pension payments start because the Participant and Spouse have not been
married for at least a year at that time, pension payments to the Participant shall be made in the amount
adjusted for the Husband-and-Wife Pension and if the Participant and Spouse have not been married to each
other for at least a year before the death of the Participant, the difference between the amounts that had
been paid and the amounts that would have been paid if the monthly amount had not been adjusted shall be paid
to the Spouse, if then alive, and otherwise to the Participant's designated Beneficiary.
- If a Participant who has a Qualified Spouse dies before his pension payments start but
at a time when he had attained Vested Status, a Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension will be paid
to his surviving Qualified Spouse.
- A Spouse is a Qualified Spouse for the purposes of this Section if the Participant and Spouse have been
married to each other throughout the year immediately before his death, or if the couple were divorced and
the former spouse is required to be treated as a Spouse or surviving Spouse under a Qualified Domestic
Relations Order.
- If the Participant described in (a) above died on or after age 55, the surviving Qualified Spouse will
be entitled to a lifetime Surviving Spouse Pension determined in accordance with the provisions of Section
5.02 as if the Participant had Retired the day before he died.
- If the Participant in (a) above died before age 55, the surviving Qualified Spouse will be entitled to
a Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension determined as if the Participant had left Covered Employment on the
date of his death (or the date he last worked in Covered Employment, if earlier), survived to age 55, Retired
at age 55 on a Husband-and-Wife Pension (Section 5.02) and died the next day. The Preretirement Surviving
Spouse Pension begins when the Participant would have attained age 55 had he lived.
- Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, a Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension will not
be paid in the form, manner or amount described above if one of the alternatives set forth in this subsection
applies.
- If the Actuarial Present Value of the benefit is less than $5000, the Trustees shall make a
single-sum payment to the Spouse in an amount equal to that Actuarial Present Value, in full discharge
of the Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension.
- A Qualified Spouse may elect in writing, filed with the Trustees, and on whatever form they may
prescribe, to defer commencement of the Preretirement Surviving Spouse Pension until a specified date
that is the later of the December 31st of the Calendar Year immediately following the Calendar Year in
which the Participant died, the December 31st of the Calendar Year in which the Employee would have
attained age 70 ½, or as soon as practicable after the Trustees learn of the death. The amount payable
at that time will be determined under subsections (c) and (d) of this Section, except that the benefit
will be paid in accordance with the terms of the Plan in effect when the Participant last worked in
Covered Employment (unless otherwise specified) as if the Participant had Retired with a
Husband-and-Wife Pension on the date before the surviving Spouse's payments are scheduled to start, and
died the next day.
The Trustees are entitled to rely on written representations, consents, and revocations submitted by
Participants, Spouses or other parties in making determinations under this Article and, unless such
reliance is arbitrary or capricious, the Trustees' determinations will be final and binding, and will
discharge the Fund and the Trustees from liability to the extent of the payments made. This means that,
unless the Plan is administered in a manner determined to be inconsistent with the fiduciary standards
of Part 4 of Title I of ERISA, the Fund will not be liable under this Article for duplicate benefits
with respect to the same Participant, or for surviving Spouse benefits in excess of the Actuarial
Present Value of the benefits described in this Article, determined as of the Effective Date of the
Participant's pension or, if earlier, the date of the Participant's death.
The monthly amount of the Husband-and-Wife Pension, once it has become payable, will not be increased
if the Spouse is subsequently divorced from the Pensioner or if the Spouse predeceases the Pensioner.
- The normal form of benefit payment for unmarried Pensioners is a monthly amount payable for
the remainder of the Pensioner's life terminating with the payment for the month in which the
Pensioner dies provided that if the Pensioner dies before receiving 36 monthly payments, monthly
benefits will continue to be paid to his designated Beneficiary, if any, until 36 total payments
have been made to the Pensioner and Beneficiary combined. An unmarried Participant who becomes
entitled to receive a pension benefit will receive it in the normal form unless the Participant
has filed a timely rejection of that form of payment.
- To be timely, a rejection of the normal form of payment for a single Participant must be filed within
the Election Period defined in Section 6.05(b). To be valid, such a rejection must be made after the
Participant has been provided with information which includes a general explanation of the normal form of
payment, the circumstances in which it will be provided unless the Participant elects otherwise, the
availability of such an election, the estimated effect of the normal form of payment and the eligibility
conditions and other material features of the optional forms of benefits provided under the Plan including
the relative values of the optional forms. The Participant may revoke a previous rejection or file a new
rejection at any time during the Election Period and after the receipt of the information referred to in
this subsection.
- An unmarried Participant who has rejected the normal form in accordance with subsection (b), shall be
entitled to elect to receive his pension benefit in accordance with optional forms of benefits provided in
this Article subject to the limitations herein.
For single Participants who formally reject the Single Life Pension with 36 Month Guarantee and those
married Participants who formally reject the Husband-and-Wife Pension and in lieu of the amount and form of
benefits otherwise commencing at or after the Participant's Effective Date, a Participant and Spouse may
elect in writing an optional form of payment as is further provided in the Sections that follow. Each
Participant and Spouse will be given a written explanation of the terms and conditions of the pension
benefit and the effect of any election under this Article within a reasonable period before the pension
starting date. An election of an optional form of payment can only be made if the Husband-and-Wife
Pension is rejected by the Participant and Spouse in accordance with Section 5.02(e).
- An Employee eligible to receive a Regular or Early Retirement benefit may designate a Beneficiary and may
elect by written application filed with the Trustees, a Joint-Life and Survivorship Pension providing a
reduced monthly retirement benefit to be paid as long as the Employee lives after the Effective Date of his
pension, with the further provision that all of such reduced monthly retirement benefit will be continued
after his death to his surviving Beneficiary during the latter's remaining lifetime. The right to elect
this option will not apply to an Employee who Retires on a monthly Disability Benefit provided under Section
3.09.
The election of this option will not be effective until the later of 12 months after the month it is filed with the
Trustees or the Effective Date of the Pension. Pension payments may commence prior to the date the option is
effective. The reduced benefit will apply as of the Effective Date of the option.
If the Employee or Beneficiary dies before the election becomes effective, the election will be void and the
Employee will be treated as though he made no election. The election will remain in effect if the Beneficiary
dies after the Effective Date of the option. Once an election has been made and accepted by the Trustees, it
cannot be changed or revoked without the consent of the Trustees.
The election of this option automatically waives the payment guarantee provided for in Section 5.07, as of the
Effective Date of the option.
- The Participant's monthly amount under this option will be a percentage of the full monthly amount otherwise
payable as a Single Life Pension (after adjustment, if any, for early retirement) as follows: 80% minus .6
percentage points for each full year that the Beneficiary's age is less than the Participant's age or plus .6
percentage points for each full year that the Beneficiary's age is greater than the Participant's age; provided,
however that the resulting percentage will not be greater than 96 percent.
- Under this option, a Participant eligible to receive a Regular or Early Retirement benefit
may elect to receive payment for life in a reduced monthly amount, with the provision that if he
dies before receiving 120 monthly payments, payments will be continued to his Beneficiary at such
reduced amount until a total of 120 monthly payments has been paid.
- The Participant’s monthly amount under this option will be a percentage of the full monthly amount
otherwise payable as a Single Life Pension (after adjustment, if any, for early retirement) as follows:
92% plus .5 percentage points for each full year the Participant is younger than age 65 when the pension
is first payable or minus 1.0 percentage points for each full year the Participant is older than 65 when
the pension is first payable.
BACK TO TOP