Short answer: if you die while working for a URS employer, your beneficiaries get 75% of your highest annual salary (at least $1,000), and a spouse with enough of your years may also qualify for a lifetime monthly benefit. After you retire, the payment option you chose decides what continues. See also retiree health and life insurance and leaving teaching, or estimate the pension in the calculator.
Dying while you work
If you die while employed by a participating employer, your beneficiaries get a death benefit of 75% of your highest annual salary (prorated if you have under 12 months of service; minimum $1,000). Not payable for suicide before group coverage has been in force two years. With a terminal illness and under 18 months to live you can take 75% of it early. Tier 1 Highlights (2026-27), pp. 12-13; Tier 2 Highlights (2026-27), p. 10; URS Actuarial Valuation (Jan. 1, 2025), App. 2, p. 99, item 14
Our arithmetic on URS's rule, not URS examples:
| Highest salary | Service | Death benefit |
|---|---|---|
| $60,000 | a year or more | $45,000 |
| $40,000 | 6 months | $15,000 |
Utah Code 49-13-501(4)(b) and 49-22-501(4)(b) say the active death benefit is 'a percentage of the final average salary ... determined by the board'. The Highlights and the valuation say 75% of your highest annual salary. We follow the Highlights.
Utah Code 49-13-501(4), 49-22-501(4); Tier 1 Highlights (2026-27), pp. 12-13; URS Actuarial Valuation (Jan. 1, 2025), App. 2, p. 99
Tier 1: an inactive member's beneficiaries also get the 75% benefit if the member had 10+ years of service before July 1, 1987 and didn't withdraw contributions. Tier 1 Highlights (2026-27), p. 13; Utah Code 49-13-501(7)
A monthly benefit for your spouse
A spouse married to you at least six months may take a lifetime monthly benefit (the 'career benefit') if you had 15 or more years, or were 62 with 10 years, or 65 with 4 years. If you were already eligible to retire (60 with 20, 62 with 10, 65 with 4) and the rules above don't apply, the spouse gets an Option Three benefit with actuarial reductions. The spouse must apply within 90 days for the benefit to start the month after death. Utah Code 49-13-405, 49-22-502; Tier 1 Highlights (2026-27), pp. 11-12; Tier 2 Highlights (2026-27), pp. 8-9
| Your service when you die | Your spouse gets |
|---|---|
| 25+ years | your full allowance |
| 20-24 yearsand under 60 | two-thirds |
| 15-19 yearsand under 62 | one-third |
| Otherwise, if you could already retire | Option Three, reduced |
The career benefit is a share of the member's 'full allowance', an Option Three allowance without actuarial reduction; the Option Three factor isn't published.
We show the share (full, 2/3 or 1/3), not a dollar amount.
What would settle it: A URS survivor estimate.
The Tier 2 Highlights lists '25 or more years of service credit' as its own career-benefit case; the Tier 1 Highlights doesn't (a Tier 1 member with 25 years can already retire). Both statutes (49-13-405(4)(a), 49-22-502(4)(a)) give the full allowance at 25+ years. We follow the statutes for both tiers.
Tier 1 Highlights (2026-27), pp. 11-12; Tier 2 Highlights (2026-27), p. 9; Utah Code 49-13-405(4), 49-22-502(4)
The Tier 2 DC Plan has no spouse annuity: vested 401(k) money goes to beneficiaries, and employer contributions vest at death. Tier 2 Highlights (2026-27), p. 27; Utah Code 49-22-503
After you retire
After retirement, what's paid depends on the option chosen: Options Three to Six continue a benefit to your spouse at retirement. You may also buy retiree and spouse life insurance at retirement (Tier 1 and Tier 2 Hybrid; not the DC Plan). Tier 1 Retirement Guidebook (Sept. 2026), pp. 16-17; Tier 1 Highlights (2026-27), p. 19; Comparing Tier 2 Plans (2026-27), p. 34
If you die within 90 days of retiring under Option One (120 days in Tier 2), the retirement is canceled and treated as a death before retirement. Tier 1 Highlights (2026-27), pp. 14, 18; Utah Code 49-13-402(5); Tier 2 Highlights (2026-27), pp. 10-11, 18; Utah Code 49-22-305(4)
A divorce or annulment revokes a former spouse's beneficiary designation for any URS benefit unless you re-designate after the divorce. Tier 1 Retirement Guidebook (Sept. 2026), p. 13
- If you die while working for a URS employer, your beneficiaries receive 75% of your highest annual salary (minimum $1,000), plus any member contributions.Tier 1 Highlights (2026-27), pp. 12-13; Tier 2 Highlights (2026-27), p. 10
- A spouse married to you six months or more can take a lifetime monthly benefit if you had 15+ years or could already retire. With 25+ years it's your full allowance; with 20-24 years under 60 it's two-thirds; with 15-19 years under 62 it's one-third; otherwise an actuarially reduced Option Three.Utah Code 49-13-405, 49-22-502; Tier 2 Highlights (2026-27), pp. 8-9
- After you retire, only Options Three to Six continue a benefit to your spouse. You can also buy retiree and spouse life insurance at retirement (not in the DC Plan).Tier 1 Retirement Guidebook (Sept. 2026), pp. 16-17; Comparing Tier 2 Plans (2026-27), p. 34
See payment options for how each option treats your spouse.
Questions
What does URS pay if a member dies while working?
75% of the member's highest annual salary (minimum $1,000), plus any member contributions. A spouse may also qualify for a monthly benefit.
What does my spouse get if I die after retiring?
It depends on your payment option. Options Three to Six continue a benefit to your spouse at retirement; Options One and Two don't.
Source: URS Tier 1 Noncontributory and Tier 2 Public Employees Retirement System Highlights, 2026-27, effective July 1, 2026, Tier 1 pp. 11-12, 12-13, 14, 18, 19; Tier 2 pp. 8-9, 10-11, 18, 27. Also: URS Actuarial Valuation (Jan. 1, 2025); Tier 1 Retirement Guidebook (Sept. 2026); Comparing Tier 2 Plans (2026-27); Utah Code §§ 49-13-402, 49-13-405, 49-13-501, 49-22-305, 49-22-502, 49-22-503. Last reviewed .