DEATH BENEFITS

DEATH BENEFITS

If you are single or widowed when you begin receiving benefits from the Supplemental Plan, you automatically receive a Five-Year Guaranteed Benefit. That means that if you die within the first five years after becoming eligible for the Supplemental Plan, your beneficiary will receive the remainder of the benefits you would have received over five years; there will not, however, be any increase in the annual amount of the benefit. For example, if you die after receiving two payments, and your last payment was $220, your beneficiary will receive a death benefit of $660 (3 x $220).

If you are married when you begin receiving benefits from the Supplemental Plan, you automatically receive a 50% Joint and Survivor Benefit for you and your spouse. If you die, your spouse receives a level benefit for life, equal to one half of the last full benefit that you received. For example, if your last benefit before death was $880, your spouse would receive a level benefit of $440 for life. In no event will the Survivor Benefit be less than $150.

If your spouse dies before you do, the future increases in your Basic Benefit will no longer be reduced to provide a Survivor Benefit. For example, if your last benefit before your spouse's death was $528, your next benefit will be $638 ($528 + $110).

Important: If you and your spouse divorce after you have started receiving your benefit, your benefit will continue to be paid in the form of a 50% Joint and Survivor Benefit with a Survivor Benefit to your former spouse unless a court issues a Qualified Domestic Relations Order instructing the Plan otherwise.