State Public Pensions in Massachusetts

Reporting a death

MSRB takes a death report by mail, by email to its Survivor Benefits unit, or by phone. Reporting the death stops the member's pension payments.¹

Documents to claim

MSRB needs a copy of the death certificate. If it is emailed, it must be scanned as a PDF; the Board cannot accept photo files.¹

MSRB also needs the full name of the benefit recipient, Option C beneficiary or active member, the Social Security number or MSRB ID if known, the date of death, and a contact name, mailing address and phone number.¹

Death after retirement

The continuing benefit depends on the option the retiree elected. Under MSRB Option A, all allowance payments stop at death and nothing is paid to survivors; under Option B, the beneficiary is paid the remaining balance of the member's accumulated deductions.²

Option C, the joint and last survivor allowance, pays a designated beneficiary a lifetime monthly allowance equal to two-thirds of the allowance being paid to the member at the time of death.²

Death before retirement

If a member dies in active service, the beneficiary may take a lump-sum distribution of the member's accumulated deductions or the Option D member-survivor allowance: a lifetime monthly allowance equal to the full Option C allowance the member would have received had they retired on the date of death.³

MSRB requires the member to have at least two years of creditable service for Option D. If the member died before 55, the allowance is calculated as if they were 55.³

Under M.G.L. c. 32 § 12(2), a beneficiary who is not the member's spouse qualifies only if an Option D form naming them was on file before the date of death. A surviving spouse may elect the allowance without one where the member had at least two years of creditable service and the marriage had lasted at least a year.⁴

Under the same section, where a Group 1 member who became a member on or after April 2, 2012 dies before 60 and before retiring, the allowance is calculated as if the member had reached 60.⁴

Filing window

A surviving spouse's election of the Option D allowance must be made on a prescribed form filed with the board within 90 days of the board mailing notice of the right of election.⁴

Health coverage and life insurance

Health, dental and life insurance are administered separately by the Group Insurance Commission, which must be notified of the death directly.¹

Governing law: M.G.L. c. 32, s. 12(2) (Option D member-survivor allowance)

A surviving spouse's election of the Option D member-survivor allowance

within 90 days of the date the board mails notice of the right of election; an election not filed on the prescribed form within the period is not valid⁴

Massachusetts State Retirement Board (MSRB)

State employees⁵

Phone: 1-617-367-7770

Massachusetts Teachers' Retirement System (MTRS)

Public-school educators⁶

Group Insurance Commission (GIC)

Health, dental and life insurance; notified of the death directly¹

Phone: 1-617-727-2310 ext. 2

1. 1.Survivor Benefits (MSRB)
2. 2.Allowance Options A, B, and C (MSRB)
3. 3.Option D for Active Members (MSRB)
4. 4.M.G.L. c. 32, s. 12, Method of payment of retirement allowances
5. 5.Massachusetts State Retirement Board (Mass.gov)
6. 6.Massachusetts Teachers' Retirement Board (Mass.gov)