PENSION BENEFITS REPORT
PFRS benefits:
Easing pension
tension
PETER
ANDREYEV
The past few weeks I have been getting a number of questions regarding the PFRS pension
death benefits our spouses would receive should
a tragic incident occur. I would like to remind all
our members that our spouses, civil union partners or domestic partners would be eligible for
certain death benefits. If something were to happen to one of our members during active duty,
that member’s spouse would receive three-anda-half times the salary the member was paid
during his or her last 12 months of employment.
For example, if Officer A had worked 12 years and died while
actively employed and the death was not a result of his job performance (off duty accident), the spouse would receive 50
percent of his final compensation. So if Officer A was earning
$110,000 during his last 12 months of service, his spouse would
receive $55,000 a year, which would be dispersed monthly, in the
amount of $4,583 before taxes. ($110,000 x 0.5 = $55,000)
($55,000/12 = 4,583.33). This “survivors pension” would be paid
to the spouse by the Division of Pensions for the rest of the
spouse’s life or until he/she remarries. This money would be sent
in addition to the lump sum amount of three-and-a-half times
the officer’s salary. In this example, $110,000 x 3.5 = $385,000. This
is the life insurance, which would be given once in one lump sum.
This amount is different than a line-of-duty death wherein the
spouse would receive the life insurance of three-and-a-half times
the final compensation but additionally would receive 70 percent
of the survivor’s pension which is a lifetime benefit and will continue in the event the widow/widower remarries.
In the event a member is retired, the spouse would still receive
the 50 percent of final compensation as a survivor’s pension but
would receive only half of the final compensation as life
insurance in retirement. If Officer A retired with a final compensation of $110,000, then passed away, the spouse would receive
$55,000 for the rest his or her life or until he or she remarries, but
would receive half of the $110,000 which would equal $55,000 in
one lump sum as the life insurance. In addition, if the member
had eligible children – children younger than 18 years – then the
children would receive 25 percent of final compensation for two
or more children younger than 18 years, or 15 percent of final
compensation for one child younger than 18 years.
This process may take three to four months because the Division of Pensions will require copies of the death certificate and
marriage certificate. The Division will not begin to process the
death claim until it has all the required documents. The faster the
documents are submitted, the faster the money will be processed
and paid out. Make sure all your beneficiaries are up to date as the
Division will pay the beneficiaries that are on file, so make sure
the people in your life are the ones whom you would want to
receive your money should something happen to you. d
14
NEW JERSEY COPS
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JULY 2016