Death of employee / retiree

MSRS should be notified as soon as possible of the death of an active employee or retiree. Notification can be made by a family member, friend, employer, funeral home, or others.

The person providing notification will be asked to identify the participant/retiree's name, address, Social Security number, date of birth, and date of death, as well as their relationship to the deceased and contact information for the survivor or beneficiary.

  • If death occurs after retirement, your survivor(s) may be eligible to receive a lifetime survivor benefit upon your death (depending on the survivor option you selected at retirement).

  • If death occurs before retirement, we provide survivor benefits for your spouse or dependent children. For more detail, contact MSRS.
     

Death of your named survivor

If you chose a joint-and survivor benefit option (50%, 75, or 100%) and your named survivor predeceases you, the monthly benefit will increase -- or bounce back* --  to the Single-Life amount the month after you notify MSRS of your survivor's death. You cannot add another survivor if your named survivor dies.

Please notify MSRS of your survivor's death so we can adjust your monthly benefit amount. You will be asked to provide a copy of the death certificate.

 

*Exception, Judges Plan only: Bounce-back only applies if you chose this feature when you applied for retirement. If you did not elect the bounce-back feature, the monthly benefit amount will remain the same after your survivor's death.