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What Your Survivors Should Know
When you applied for your pension, you chose either a straight life option, which provides no ongoing benefit after your death, or one of the survivor options, which continues payments for the lifetime of the person you named as your survivor pension beneficiary.
Whether ongoing benefits are due or not, your survivor should contact the Michigan Office of Retirement Services upon your death. We will ask for your social security number so we can stop your pension payments and review your record to see if anything more is payable.
Additional information about reporting a death can be found by going to the Voya Financial website or calling 800-748-6128. Another helpful publication is the Employee Benefits Division's Death Benefits for State Employees: A Guide for Surviving Family Members, Estate Executors and Others.
Continued insurance for your survivors.
If you elected a survivor option for your pension, group insurances will continue uninterrupted for your designated pension beneficiary after your death. Your eligible spouse and unmarried children by birth or legal adoption who were covered at the time of your death will also continue to receive insurance benefits if you chose a survivor option.
If you did not choose a survivor option, coverage for your enrolled spouse and dependents ceases the last day of the month of death. However, they may be eligible to continue insurance coverage for up to 36 months through COBRA.