beneficiaries

Section 9 establishes the accidental death benefit — a pension payable to the survivors of a member who dies as the direct result of a work-related injury or hazard sustained while in the performance of duties. The benefit equals 72% of the member's regular compensation and is paid first to a surviving spouse, then to dependent children, and then to totally dependent parents or siblings if no spouse or children are eligible. Additional allowances for dependent children are also payable, subject to COLA adjustments in systems that have accepted the supplemental dependent allowance. Boards must verify the causal connection between the member's death and the workplace injury, and a strict notice requirement applies.

Section 11 governs the return of accumulated total deductions to members who are not entitled to a retirement allowance, and the distribution of those deductions to beneficiaries upon a member's death before retirement. It establishes the 60-day payment timeline, a reduced interest rate (3%) for members who leave with fewer than 120 months of service after January 1, 1984, and procedures for the IV-D child support agency to intercept refunds when a member owes child support arrears. The section also addresses dormant accounts — transferring unclaimed deductions to the Pension Reserve Fund after 10 years — and establishes the rights of claimants to recover such transferred amounts.

Section 12 governs the retirement option elections available to members at the time of retirement. Members may choose from three options: Option (a) — a full life annuity with no survivor benefit; Option (b) — a slightly reduced cash-refund life annuity that guarantees return of accumulated deductions to beneficiaries; and Option (c) — a reduced joint-and-last-survivor allowance that continues two-thirds of the payment to an eligible named beneficiary after the member's death. The section also establishes Option (d), the member-survivor allowance that provides an Option (c)-equivalent benefit to a qualifying spouse or eligible beneficiary if the member dies before retirement. Spousal consent requirements and detailed rules for beneficiary designation and option changes are also included.

Section 12A allows a surviving beneficiary who may be entitled to accidental death benefits under Section 9 to receive interim payments under Option (d) of Section 12 or Section 12B while the accidental death benefit application is being processed. This prevents a surviving spouse or dependent from going without income during the potentially lengthy determination period. Once Section 9 benefits are approved and the first payment is made, the interim Option (d) or Section 12B payments cease and the first Section 9 payment is reduced by the aggregate of interim amounts already paid.

Section 12B provides additional monthly survivor allowances for the children of a deceased member-in-service, payable to a surviving spouse for the benefit of eligible children. For a member with at least two years of creditable service and at least one year of marriage who dies in service leaving a qualifying spouse and minor children, an additional allowance of $120/month for one child plus $90/month for each additional child is payable (subject to COLA adjustments under Section 102). These allowances are paid alongside the member-survivor allowance under Option (d) of Section 12, and continue until each child reaches age 18 (22 if a full-time student) or is otherwise no longer eligible.

Section 12C extends the survivor benefits of Section 12B to the widow and children of a deceased employee who had completed two years of creditable service and had been married for at least one year but who — though eligible — failed or elected not to become a member of the retirement system. To qualify, the surviving family must pay into the annuity savings fund an amount equal to the deductions that would have been withheld during the employee's career, plus accumulated interest. This provision ensures that non-member eligible employees' families are not permanently foreclosed from survivor benefits when the failure to enroll was a matter of election rather than ineligibility.

Section 13 governs when and how retirement allowances, annuities, and pensions are paid under Chapter 32. It establishes monthly payment schedules, pro rata rules for partial months, and authorizes direct deposit requirements. It also provides that members entitled to very small allowances (under $360/year) receive a lump-sum refund of accumulated deductions in lieu of ongoing payments, with an optional lump-sum available for allowances under $600/year upon written request.

Section 17 provides a mechanism for exercising a member's retirement options and rights when the member is incompetent or otherwise unable to act on their own behalf. The spouse (if living together), guardian, or conservator may act in priority order; absent all of these, the board may designate any person it finds to be acting in the member's best interests.

Section 44B provides school janitors eligible for retirement under Sections 44 or 44A with two pension options at retirement. Option A pays the full pension for life. Option B pays a reduced pension for life with a provision that two-thirds of that lesser amount continues to a surviving spouse (who was the spouse at retirement), with the surviving spouse receiving at least two-thirds of what the janitor was receiving at death. If a janitor who has served 20 or more years dies before retirement, the widow is entitled to two-thirds of the Option B allowance the janitor would have received, conditioned on at least 10 years of marriage, cohabitation at death, and surviving unmarried. Actuarial equivalence computations are supervised by the PERAC actuary at city or town expense. Acceptance requires a two-thirds city council vote (Plan D/E cities), regular city council vote (other cities), or annual town meeting majority vote.

Section 58B allows veterans eligible to retire under section 58 to elect a reduced pension that, upon their death, provides two-thirds of that lesser amount to a surviving spouse or eligible beneficiary (child, parent, sibling) for life, with actuarial equivalency calculations supervised by PERAC.

Section 65C allows retired judges to elect a reduced lifetime retirement allowance so that upon their death, their surviving spouse receives two-thirds of that lesser allowance for life; it also provides surviving spouse benefits when judges die before resigning, and sets rules for when these benefits apply or terminate.

Section 71 provides annuities to the widow, children, and dependent parents of Metropolitan Parks Commission police officers killed or fatally injured in the line of duty, with the total not exceeding the officer's annual compensation at death, and extends these provisions to officers assigned to state police duty.

Section 77A gives laborers eligible for retirement under section 77 the option to take either a full pension (Option A) or a reduced lifetime pension with a survivor benefit that pays half the lesser amount to a surviving widow (Option B); also provides a widow's benefit when a qualifying laborer dies before retirement, subject to local acceptance.

Section 85J gives police officers and firefighters eligible for noncontributory retirement under sections 80–85 or 85E the option at retirement of taking a full pension (Option A) or a reduced lifetime pension with a survivor benefit paying two-thirds of the lesser amount to a surviving widow (Option B), subject to local acceptance.

Section 88 allows accepting towns to pay up to $300/year to the widow (while unmarried) or dependent children under 16 of persons killed while aiding police or performing fire duty at the town's direction, provided no compensation is payable under section 89 for the same death.

Section 89 provides annuities to the widow, children, and dependent relatives of police officers, firefighters, forest wardens, and certain other public employees killed or fatally injured in the line of duty, with amounts generally not exceeding the deceased's annual compensation at death, and requires election between these benefits and any contributory retirement system benefits.

Section 89A extends the line-of-duty death annuity framework of section 89 to all public employees of the commonwealth and its political subdivisions (not just police and fire), upon local acceptance, providing the same annuity structure to surviving spouses, children, and dependent relatives.

Section 89B provides enhanced death benefits for surviving spouses of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty: two-thirds of the officer's annual regular compensation (or the 12-month average, whichever is greater), plus child allowances, as an alternative to any other law's benefits; requires local acceptance.

Section 89C provides a $1,500/year annuity to the surviving spouse (while unmarried) of any city or town employee killed in the line of duty whose death occurred before any applicable benefit law was in effect, upon local acceptance.

Section 89D increases the line-of-duty death annuity for widows under section 89C from $1,500 to $2,000/year in accepting cities and towns, and supersedes section 89C in any municipality that accepts it.

Section 89E requires cities, towns, and districts using volunteer emergency service providers to offer one of three accidental death benefits for surviving spouses of call/volunteer firefighters and reserve/auxiliary police officers killed in the line of duty: an annuity of 2/3 to 100% of first-year regular compensation (with COLA), a $500,000 one-time insurance payment, or an insurance-funded annuity; benefits continue to surviving children if no spouse.

Section 95A (requiring local acceptance) requires counties, cities, and towns to grant annuities to the surviving spouse or children of officials or employees who were retired or qualified for retirement under noncontributory law with no survivor election rights, with 15+ years of full-time service, up to half of regular annual compensation or $3,000, with a minimum of $1,500.

Section 95B updates the section 95A annuity cap from $3,000 to $6,000 (or half annual compensation, whichever is less) in accepting counties, cities, and towns, and supersedes section 95A in any municipality that accepts it.

Section 100 provides that when a firefighter, police officer, or corrections officer is killed in specified line-of-duty circumstances, their surviving spouse receives a pension equal to the salary that would have been paid had the deceased continued in service (at the maximum rate for the position); upon the surviving spouse's death, surviving children under 18 (or 22 if full-time students, or disabled) receive 72% of that pension plus $312/year each.

Section 100A establishes a $300,000 one-time killed-in-line-of-duty benefit, administered and paid by the state board of retirement (subject to appropriation), for the family of any deceased public safety employee (firefighters, police officers, corrections officers, EMTs, public prosecutors, and others) killed or fatally injured in the performance of duties; this benefit is in addition to section 100 amounts and is not taxable by the commonwealth.

Section 101 provides a base annual allowance ($6,000, $9,000, or $12,000 depending on system acceptance) to the surviving spouse of a former employee who was retired for disability and had no surviving spouse benefit under their retirement option; retirement systems may adopt the higher supplemental amounts by majority board vote with legislative body approval.

The Social Security Fairness Act, signed January 5, 2025, repeals the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) with a retroactive effective date of January 1, 2024, directly affecting thousands of Massachusetts public employees who receive Chapter 32 benefits. Boards should direct member inquiries to the Social Security Administration and communicate the change broadly. PERAC advises boards to pause on requiring completion of Form SSA-1945 until the SSA releases further guidance on implementing the repeal.