What to do when a STRS Ohio account holder dies

If a Defined Benefit Plan or Combined Plan member dies before retiring, qualified survivors may receive a monthly benefit that is a percentage of the member's final average salary, or a lump-sum payment of the member's account. Only one type of benefit is paid. There are three types of monthly benefit with different eligibility: the dependent-based benefit (at least 1.50 years of qualifying service credit, with a quarter year earned within the 30 months before death, or receiving a disability benefit at death), the service-based benefit (20 or more years of service credit), and the retirement-based benefit (member died after qualifying for service retirement). Defined Contribution Plan members are not in the survivor benefits program, but their account balance is available to beneficiaries.

When a service retirement or disability benefit recipient dies, STRS Ohio automatically pays a $1,000 death benefit to the designated or qualified beneficiary. A benefit recipient may also purchase an additional death benefit of $1,000 or $2,000, funded through deductions from the monthly STRS Ohio benefit. The death benefit is paid to the beneficiary on file, or by the plan's succession order when none is named.

Members can name and update beneficiaries through their STRS Ohio online account or by completing the Designation of Beneficiaries Before Benefit Payments form and returning it to STRS Ohio. A designation is valid only if it is signed by the member and received by STRS Ohio before the member's death. Certain life events — marriage, birth or adoption of a child, divorce, dissolution, legal separation, or account withdrawal or distribution — automatically invoke the succession of beneficiaries unless a new designation is filed first.

It depends on the plan of payment the member elected at retirement. The Single Life Annuity pays the largest monthly amount for the member's lifetime and provides no continuing payment to a survivor. A Joint and Survivor Annuity pays a reduced monthly amount that continues to one named primary beneficiary after the member dies. In general the plan of payment and the primary beneficiary cannot be changed after retirement; a member who elected a Single Life Annuity and later marries may change to a Joint and Survivor Annuity naming the new spouse within the first year of marriage.

Defined Contribution Plan members are not eligible for the STRS Ohio survivor benefits program; when a Defined Contribution member dies, the account balance is available to the member's beneficiaries. Combined Plan members participate in the survivor benefits program for the defined benefit portion and also have a defined contribution account balance available to beneficiaries. A member's account consists of contributions plus an additional amount payable under Section 3307.563 of the Ohio Revised Code.

A certified copy of the death certificate is required to process any benefit. When you report the death by calling 1-888-227-7877 or by completing the Death Notification application, STRS Ohio reviews the account and mails the specific claim forms the beneficiary or survivor needs to complete and return.

STRS Ohio pays account payments and the death benefit to the beneficiary on file with STRS Ohio, or by the plan's succession order when none is named, separate from the instructions in a will. Keeping the STRS Ohio designation current through the online account or a Designation of Beneficiaries form determines who receives those benefits. Monthly survivor benefits, by contrast, are paid to statutorily qualified survivors.