If You Die Before You Begin to Receive Benefits

If you die before your retirement income begins, the full current value of your account balances in all investment funds will be payable to your beneficiary under any of the payment options elected by the beneficiary and allowed by Fidelity (subject to IRS minimum payment rules).

You choose a beneficiary at the time you enroll in the Supplemental Retirement & Savings Plan, and you may change your beneficiary at any time by filing a Change of Beneficiary Form with Human Resources. However, if you are married, federal law requires that your spouse be your beneficiary unless your spouse consents in writing to your naming another beneficiary, and this consent is witnessed by a Supplemental Retirement & Savings Plan representative or notarized by a notary public.

If you designate your spouse as beneficiary and the individual later ceases to be your spouse, such designation will be deemed void and your ex-spouse will have no rights as a beneficiary unless redesignated as a beneficiary by you subsequent to becoming your ex-spouse, or as otherwise provided under a Qualified Domestic Relations Order under IRS Code Section 414(p).

If your marital status changes after you enroll in the Supplemental Retirement & Savings Plan (you marry, divorce or separate, or your spouse dies), be sure to contact Human Resources immediately to make any appropriate changes in your designated beneficiary. If you marry or you are divorced and then remarry, your prior beneficiary designation(s) will become invalid and your current spouse will automatically become your beneficiary unless you designate another beneficiary with your current spouse’s written consent (witnessed by a plan representative or notary public).

Current federal income tax laws contain several requirements regarding the distribution of your account balance after you die. If your designated beneficiary under the Supplemental Retirement and Savings Plan is your surviving spouse, a minor child (until reaching the age of majority), is chronically ill, or is not more than 10 years younger than you, your benefits may be paid over the course of your beneficiary’s life expectancy. Other beneficiaries designated under the Supplemental Retirement and Savings Plan must receive the entire value of your accounts within ten years of your death. Beneficiaries that are not designated under the Supplemental Retirement and Savings Plan (for example, your estate and certain trusts) must generally receive the entire value of your accounts within five years of your death.

Generally, annuity or installment payments must begin within one year of your death. However, if your spouse is your sole designated beneficiary, he or she may postpone the start of benefits until a later date, but not later than the date on which you would have reached age 72.

Your beneficiary may receive a lump-sum distribution of the account balances, or roll over your account balances into an IRA or another plan that accepts such rollovers, or receive the full value of the account over the maximum distribution period. A non-spouse beneficiary’s rollover option is limited only to a direct rollover to an IRA in accordance with federal tax law.