State Public Pensions
Death notification and survivor benefits for state and local government retirement systems
State and local government employees — including teachers, police, firefighters, and other public workers — participate in state- and locally-administered public retirement systems. When a member or retiree dies, the system pays whatever survivor or death benefit its own statute and plan rules provide, based on the member's beneficiary designation and the benefit option elected at retirement. The survivor or beneficiary contacts the retirement system to report the death and file a claim. These are governmental plans, which federal law (29 U.S.C. 1003(b)(1)) exempts from ERISA — so the survivor protections that apply to a private employer's pension do not apply here, and what a survivor is owed is set entirely by the individual system. Systems differ profoundly from one another, and often between tiers inside one system, so confirm the answer with the system that covers the deceased.
Public pension benefits in your state
Administered by each state's public retirement systems. Select a state for its administering office, key facts, and the steps that apply there.
Public pension benefits when a member or retiree dies
The survivor or named beneficiary reports the death and files a claim with the retirement system.
A family member reports the death. Public Pensions's page on what to do after a death →
- •Retiree: the payment option elected at retirement controls, and a single-life option can leave nothing payable
- •Active member: a death benefit or survivor annuity may go to the designated beneficiary
- •No beneficiary on file: the system's own default order applies
Required Documents
- Certified copy of the death certificate: if the system requests one
- The deceased's member or retirement account number: if known
- Beneficiary's identification and relationship documents
- Marriage certificate: for a surviving-spouse benefit, if applicable
Timeline
Processing time varies by system.
What happens to each matter1
- Pension or annuity
For a retiree, the system stops the monthly pension and pays whatever continuing benefit the member elected at retirement: a monthly survivor annuity, a lump-sum payment, or nothing if a single-life option was elected. The options and their terms are set by each system.1
Many systems pay a death benefit or survivor annuity to the designated beneficiary when an active member dies before retirement, and some condition it on years of service or on the death being job-related. The benefit and eligibility are set by each system.1
What Public Pensions's rules say7
- Who reports the death
The surviving spouse, named beneficiary or estate representative reports the death to the state or local retirement system; in some systems the member's employer also reports it.1
- Payments received after the death
Report the death as soon as possible: the system stops the member's pension payments and requires return of any payment covering a period after the date of death. A payment not returned is reclaimed from the bank.1
- Processing and payment
Systems commonly accept a death report online, by phone or by mail, and then request a certified death certificate.1
- Order of beneficiaries or payees
Benefits go to the beneficiary the member designated with the system, or to the survivor under the option elected at retirement. With no valid designation on file, the system pays under the default order in its own statute or plan rules, which is not uniform and may not match the state's intestacy statute.1
A benefit paid to a beneficiary the member named with the system generally goes directly to that beneficiary and does not pass through the probate estate. If no beneficiary is named and the benefit defaults to the estate, it is handled through the estate.1
- What the agency does and does not handle
Public employees are usually covered by a statewide system for general employees or teachers, or by a separate police and fire or municipal system.1
ERISA does not apply to a governmental plan, so the qualified joint and survivor annuity, the qualified preretirement survivor annuity and the spouse's written consent to another form of payment do not apply. Any spousal right comes from the state's own statute or plan rules.2, 3, 4
A federal QDRO does not apply. A governmental plan divides benefits under a state-law domestic relations order, which is treated as a qualified domestic relations order for federal tax purposes under 26 U.S.C. 414(p)(11).3, 5
- Offsets between benefits
The Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82), signed into law on January 5, 2025, repeals both the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision, for benefits payable for months after December 2023.6, 7
A widow or widower with a pension from government work not covered by Social Security no longer has a Social Security spousal or survivor benefit reduced by the offset; SSA issued the increase back to January 2024. About 72 percent of state and local public employees work in Social Security-covered employment, per SSA.6, 7
- Tax treatment
Benefits paid to a survivor under a joint and survivor annuity must be included in federal gross income, reported the same way the retiree would have reported them. If the member made after-tax contributions, part of each payment can be a tax-free recovery of that cost.8
The retirement system issues a Form 1099-R. State tax treatment varies.8
Other agencies and offices involved2
- National Association of State Retirement Administrators
A directory of the statewide retirement systems in each state9
- Social Security Administration
Social Security spousal and survivor benefits, no longer reduced by the Government Pension Offset6
Sources
Data sourced from State Public Pensions primary sources (8 pages reviewed). How we research.
State Public Pensions national resources
State Retirement Systems
Website
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