Survivor Benefits

DC Plan

The surviving spouse or sole survivor may elect to withdraw the account or begin receiving a monthly annuity immediately following the members death. If the account balance is not large enough to provide a $100 monthly benefit, the account must be withdrawn. If there are multiple survivors, the account must be withdrawn.

Types of monthly survivor benefits

There are three types of monthly benefits available to your qualified survivors. The amount payable to qualified survivors depends on specific eligibility requirements. They are:

1. Dependent-based benefit,
2. Service-based benefit, and
3. Retirement-based benefit.

Qualified survivors are automatically eligible for the calculation that provides the greater survivor benefit. To estimate monthly benefits for your eligible survivors, check out our Survivor Benefits calculator.

CO Plan

The defined benefit and defined contribution portions of the account are combined to fund the benefit for all of the benefit types below.

Qualified survivors

It is important to understand who is eligible to receive survivor benefits. Only qualified survivors are eligible for monthly benefits assuming all other eligibility requirements for monthly benefits are met. Qualified survivors are as follows:

Spouse

For dependent-based or service-based benefits, the spouse of a deceased member is a qualified survivor if the:

• Member had 10 or more years of credit (for dependent-based benefits); or
• Spouse cares for the deceased member’s qualified children; or
• Spouse is at least 62 years old; or
• Spouse is mentally or physically incapacitated.

For retirement-based benefits, the spouse of a deceased member is a qualified survivor if the member was eligible for service retirement before the date of death.

Children

Children (including legally adopted children) of a deceased member are qualified survivors if they are:

• Under age 22 and never married; or
• Any age, never married, physically or mentally incapacitated before age 22 and have remained continuously incapacitated.

Dependent parent

A parent of a deceased member is a qualified survivor if the parent is at least age 65 and received at least one-half of their support from the member during the 12-month period before the member’s death.

Effective date of benefit

For qualified survivors, benefits are effective the first of the month after the date of death unless the application is submitted more than 12 months after the date of death, then benefits are effective the first of the month after the application is received.

Dependent-based benefit

The dependent-based benefit is payable to qualified survivors when the member dies after meeting the following member requirements:

Existing member as of June 30, 2013

• Has 1.50 years of qualifying service credit^* before death, and
• Earned a quarter of a year of service credit within the 30-month period preceding death, or was receiving a disability benefit at the time of death; or received a disability benefit within the last 12 months and was contributing to STRS Ohio, Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) or School Employees Retirement System (SERS) at the time of death.
• Provided the account has not been withdrawn, eligibility for dependent-based monthly benefits for qualified survivors continues for up to 27 months following the member’s last contributing service.

New member on or after July 1, 2013

• Has 5.00 years of qualifying service credit^* before death, and
• Date of death is no more than one year from the last date of service; or was receiving a disability benefit at the time of death; or received a disability benefit within the last 12 months and was contributing to STRS Ohio, OPERS or SERS at the time of death.
• Provided the account has not been withdrawn, eligibility for dependent-based monthly benefits for qualified survivors continues for up to 12 months following the member’s last contributing service.

Monthly survivor benefits are determined according to the number of qualified survivors. These benefits are payable as a percentage of final average salary (FAS), which is the average of the member’s five highest fiscal years of earnings, regardless of when they occur.

If contributions were made for less than the FAS period, total compensation is divided by the total number of years of service in the member’s account to calculate the FAS.

The surviving spouse receives 25% of the FAS and the balance of the total survivor benefit is divided equally among the remaining qualified survivors. If there is no surviving spouse, the benefit is divided equally among the qualified survivors.

Service-based benefit

The service-based benefit is payable to qualified survivors when the member dies after meeting the following member requirements:

Existing member as of June 30, 2013

• Has 20 or more years of service credit before death, and
• Earned a quarter of a year of service credit within the 30-month period preceding death, or was receiving a disability benefit at the time of death; or received a disability benefit within the last 12 months and was contributing to STRS Ohio, OPERS or SERS at the time of death.
• Provided the account has not been withdrawn, eligibility for service-based monthly benefits for qualified survivors continues for up to 27 months following the member’s last contributing service.

New member on or after July 1, 2013

• Has 20 or more years of service credit before death, and
• Date of death is no more than one year from the last date of service; or was receiving a disability benefit at the time of death; or received a disability benefit within the last 12 months and was contributing to STRS Ohio, OPERS or SERS at the time of death.
• Provided the account has not been withdrawn, eligibility for service-based monthly benefits for qualified survivors continues for up to 12 months following the member’s last contributing service.

Monthly survivor benefits are determined according to the number of years of service credit. These benefits are payable as a percentage of FAS, which is the average of the member’s five highest fiscal years of earnings, regardless of when they occur.

Retirement-based benefit

The retirement-based benefit is payable when the member dies after qualifying for service retirement (but before actually retiring with STRS Ohio) and there are no children who are qualified survivors.

If there are one or more children who are qualified survivors, the primary beneficiary must select between the dependent-based and the service-based benefit. However, once the children no longer qualify for benefits (due to age or marital status, for example), the primary beneficiary may change to the retirement-based benefit.

There is no time restriction to apply for this benefit; however, some benefits will be lost if the application is received more than 12 months after the date of the member’s death. If a member stops contributing and dies after meeting eligibility, a retirement-based benefit is payable to a qualified survivor.

Qualifying survivors

The following individuals are eligible for a retirement-based benefit:

• A surviving spouse.
• A designated financially dependent beneficiary. To qualify for benefits, this individual must have received at least one-half of their support from the member during the 12-month period before the member’s death. Proof of dependency must be substantiated before benefits are paid.
• A designated qualified child who is the member’s sole beneficiary following the termination of dependent-based or service-based survivor benefits.
• A designated qualified parent of a deceased member who is at least age 65 and received at least one-half of their support from the member during the 12-month period before the member’s death.

Benefit calculation

The retirement-based benefit is determined using the service retirement benefit calculation. The benefit is calculated as if the member had actually retired and provided the maximum joint and survivor benefit to the qualified survivor. This is the Joint and Survivor Annuity option 1 without reversion plan of payment without any guaranteed period. For more information about benefit calculations and plan of payment options, check out our Service Retirement and Plans of Payment brochure.

Retirement-based benefits sample estimate

In this example, if the deceased member also had a child who is a qualified survivor, the retirement-based benefit could not be selected. The primary beneficiary would choose between the dependent-based or service-based benefits. Once the child was no longer eligible for benefits (due to age or marital status, for example), the primary beneficiary could change from either the dependent-based or service-based benefit to the retirement-based benefit.

Account withdrawal in lieu of benefits

Eligibility requirements

The primary beneficiary may withdraw the deceased member’s account in lieu of receiving monthly benefits if there are no children who are qualified survivors. If there are no qualified survivors and other eligibility requirements are not met, the primary beneficiary must withdraw the deceased member’s account.

If there is no spouse and only one qualified survivor age 18 or older, the survivor may forfeit rights to benefits and withdraw the account, which includes interest and 50% matching funds, if certain criteria are met. If the survivor instead takes even one monthly benefit payment and becomes eligible for the balance of the account (for example, reaches age 22), the survivor receives only the member’s contributions less any survivor benefits previously paid. No interest or 50% matching funds would be payable.

Withdrawal amount

Account withdrawals consist of the deceased member’s contributions plus an additional amount payable under Section 3307.563, Revised Code (R.C.). The additional amount payable depends on years of qualifying service credit^* and the rates of interest established by the State Teachers Retirement Board. The interest rates noted below are subject to change without notice. To confirm current interest rates, call us at 888‑227‑7877 (toll-free).

• With 5.00 or more years of qualifying service credit^*, interest at a current rate of 3% compounded annually will be paid on the member contributions and an additional amount equal to 50% of the sum of the member contributions^**, plus interest, will also be paid.
• With at least 3.00 years but less than 5.00 years of qualifying service credit^*, interest at a current rate of 3% compounded annually will be paid on the member contributions.
• With less than 3.00 years of qualifying service credit^*, interest at a current rate of 2% compounded annually will be paid on the member contributions.

Interest for all years withdrawn begins to accrue in the fiscal year following deposit. For example, interest on 2023–2024 contributions would begin July 2024 and be payable August 2024 or later. No interest is payable if a member withdraws their account in July and contributed to STRS Ohio for only the year just ended. Interest stops accruing the month before account withdrawal.

The decision to withdraw the deceased member’s account must be made before receiving monthly survivor benefits. If a survivor who is receiving monthly benefits becomes ineligible for survivor benefits (because of age or death, for example), the withdrawal amount, if any, will be limited to the deceased member’s contributions less any survivor benefits previously paid. No interest or 50% matching funds would be payable.

If the member had ever received disability retirement benefits, the withdrawal amount does not include interest or 50% matching funds. The account balance is reduced by the benefits received for members who received disability retirement benefits.

Items to consider

The following questions should be answered before deciding whether to withdraw the account or to receive monthly survivor benefits:

• Is the monthly benefit guaranteed for life or will it terminate at a specified date?
• Is access to health care coverage from STRS Ohio available and, if so, will eligible survivors need it?

Other survivor benefit options offered to a sole survivor under the CO Plan

In lieu of combining the defined contribution and defined benefit portions of the account to receive monthly survivor benefits, a surviving spouse or sole survivor of a Combined Plan participant has the additional options listed below which apply regardless of the member’s age at the time of death:

Defined contribution portion

The surviving spouse or sole survivor may withdraw the account or begin receiving a monthly annuity immediately following the retiree’s death.

Defined benefit portion

• For the surviving spouse or sole survivor of a member who had less than 5.00 years of service credit, the only option is to withdraw the account.
• The surviving spouse or sole survivor of a member with more than 5.00 years of service credit may withdraw the account or begin receiving a monthly annuity, assuming the member was at least age 60. If the member had not attained age 60, the survivor may maintain the defined benefit portion of the account until the member would have been at least age 60 to receive a monthly annuity. The annuity is based on 1% of the member’s FAS for each year of service adjusted for a Joint and Survivor plan of payment.

(Note: If the annuity options indicated above are chosen, the payment to the survivor must be at least $100 monthly; otherwise, that portion of the account must be withdrawn.)