Beneficiaries
Any Tier One or Tier Two death benefits will be paid to the surviving Tier One or Tier Two beneficiaries that you
designated. If PERS does not have a valid Tier One or Tier Two beneficiary designation form on file, PERS will pay
benefits according to Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 238.390 (2), which pays in the following order of priority:
- The member’s surviving spouse or other person who is constitutionally required to be treated in the same manner
as a spouse.
- The member’s surviving children, in equal shares.
- The member’s estate.
Employer-matching death benefit
The employer-matching death benefit is an employer match of your PERS Tier One or Tier Two member account balance.
The employer match is a component in funding death benefits and will increase benefits payable to your beneficiary.
Your account may be eligible for employer-matching death benefits if any of the following apply:
- You were not receiving retirement benefits, and you died while actively employed in a PERS-covered position.
- You died while on official leave without pay* from a PERS employer.
- You died within 120 days after the last day of paid employment with a PERS employer.
*Your employer must approve in writing an official leave of absence without pay for a specified time period and
submit it to PERS.
Death benefit payment options
If you die before retirement, your beneficiary must choose one of the following payment options:
-
Total distribution — Receive a single lump-sum payment of 100% of your PERS Tier One or Tier Two
member account balance and employer-matching death benefit, if eligible.
-
Straight life annuity (pension) — Receive a lifetime monthly benefit funded by your member
account balance and employer-matching death benefit, if eligible. The monthly benefit must be at least $200 per
month.
-
Partial distribution plus pension — Receive a single lump-sum payment of 100% of your PERS Tier
One or Tier Two member account balance and a lifetime monthly benefit funded by the employer-matching death
benefit. This option is only available if your account is eligible for the employer-matching death benefit and the
monthly portion of the benefit is at least $200 per month.
Optional Spouse Death Benefit
If you die before retirement, your surviving spouse may be eligible for a fourth payment option, the Optional
Spouse Death Benefit (OSDB), which will be paid monthly for the surviving spouse's lifetime. If the monthly
OSDB benefit is less than $200, this option will be paid as a single lump sum that represents the actuarial
equivalent of the OSDB.
To be eligible:
- Your date of death must be on or after January 1, 2024. (Note: Deaths between 2020 and 2023
that were eligible for OSDB were subject to different rules.)
- Your account must be eligible for the employer-matching death benefit (as described above).
- You must have a surviving spouse.
- Your surviving spouse must be your sole beneficiary per statute or as determined by a valid Tier One/Tier Two
Preretirement Beneficiary Designation form on file with PERS.
- Your surviving spouse’s OSDB election must be received by PERS no later than 60 days after the date of the
estimate that PERS provides to your spouse.
The PERS Death Benefits team analyzes accounts for OSDB eligibility and sends eligible surviving spouses an
estimate of the three payment options detailed in the “Death benefit payment options" section above and an estimate
for the OSDB option.
The following OSDB benefits are applicable when a member dies on or after January 1, 2024:
- If your date of death is before your earliest retirement eligibility date, OSDB is the actuarial equivalent of
50% of the pension you would have received in retirement, calculated as if you became inactive on the date of
death and retired at the earliest retirement date allowed.
- If your date of death is on or after your earliest retirement eligibility date, OSDB is the actuarial
equivalent of 100% of the pension you would have received in retirement, calculated as if you had retired as of
the first of the month following the date of death.
The OSDB effective date is the first of the month after your date of death unless your spouse delays benefits for
a year or more after your date of death. Payments delayed by more than a year are actuarially adjusted based on the
delayed benefit effective date and will not receive retroactive payments back to your date of death.
If your spouse has elected the OSDB and dies before benefits start, a lump-sum payment equal to the sum of
payments your spouse would have received had they not delayed distribution will be paid to your spouse’s designated
beneficiary. If your spouse’s designated beneficiary is not on file, the benefit will be paid to your spouse’s
estate.
Police officer and firefighter unit benefits
If you purchased police officer and firefighter unit benefits and you die before retirement, the amount in your
unit account is refunded to your beneficiary. There is no matching employer amount.