Husband & Wife Regular Forms of Payment

The Husband-and-Wife pension is the basic form of pension payments for married pensioners. If you have been married for at least one year at the time benefits begin, your pension will be paid in this form unless you and your spouse elect to receive a full pension with the 5-year minimum guarantee.
The Husband-and-Wife pension provides a lifetime benefit for your spouse as well as for yourself. Under this form of payment, the amount of the monthly benefit otherwise payable to you is reduced. In exchange, upon your death, 50% of the benefit amount you were receiving will be paid to your surviving spouse for life. For the spouse of a pensioner to be entitled to a Husband-and-Wife pension, the couple must have been married on the effective date of pension and for at least a one-year period before the pensioner's death.
The amount of the reduction in your normal or early benefit depends on your age and your spouse's age. Since the reduction will vary from one case to another, you may ask the Fund office to provide you with the actual figures when you apply.

Example: George is 64 and entitled to retire on a normal pension of $280 per month. George's wife is also 64. Unless he elects otherwise, George's pensio n u nder the Husband-and-Wife form will be reduced by 10% so that he will receive a benefit of $252 per month.

Upon his death, George's wife will receive a benefit equal to 50% of what he was receiving, or $126 per month. If George's wife predeceases him, the Husband-and-Wife pension is canceled and he will receive a monthly benefit of $280 commencing the first of the month following the death of his wife.

The Husband-and-Wife option is canceled if the spouse dies or is divorced from the Participant before the pension begins. If the spouse dies after the Husband-and-Wife pension begins the amount of the pension "Pops-Up" to its original, unreduced amount. This feature is referred to as the "Pop-Up Option."

If you do not want a Husband-and-Wife pension, you and your spouse must formally reject it and receive a lifetime pension in the form of the Five Year Minimum Guarantee described below.

The Five Year Minimum Guarantee is the basic form of benefit payable to unmarried pensioners and also payable to married pensioners who have formally rejected the Husband-and-Wife pension. It provides that if a pensioner dies before reaching 60 monthly payments (5 years), his or her designated beneficiary will continue to receive monthly payments until a total of 60 monthly payments have been made, counting both payments to the pensioner and to the beneficiary.

Effective August 1, 1999 , if a pensioner or beneficiary dies at a time when the participants natural or legally adopted dependant children are under age 2l, benefits which were being paid to the pensioner or beneficiary will continue to be paid the childre n u ntil age 2l. Such benefits will be paid to the legal guardian. If there is more than one such child, each will receive a proportionate share of the monthly benefit.