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A 'BGC Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation ~..t..t~.~ A~B~,~... P~~.~~~. 1200 K Street, N W . Washington, D.C. 20005-4026 

e 

AUG 3 1 2005 

~e: ~eokuk Steel Castings Inc. - National Castings Inc. Merged 

Pension Plan for Hourly Employees, Case # 196483 

The Appeals Board has reviewed your appeal of PBGC's June 15,2005 determination that 

benefit was paid in the form of a Straight Life Annuity with no survivor 

benefits. As explained below, the Board changed PBGC's determination by finding that (ID 

benefit was payable as a Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity instead of a Straight Life 

Annuity and (2) you are entitled to the survivor portion of that benefit. 

PBGC's Determination and Your Aaueal 

According to the records available to the Appeals Board, you called PBGC's Insurance 

Operations Department (since renamed the Benefits Administration and Payment Department) on 

January 13,2003 to reportdeath on January 12,2003, and to inquire about a 

survivor benefit. On January 28, 2003, you sent PBGC's Disclosure Officer documents you 

believe support your entitlement to a survivor benefit. The documents include: 

A ~arria~e certificate showing that bere 

married in Aiken County, South Carolina, on July 6, 1957; 

An Order of Dismissal stamped August 8,2002 and signed by Judge Marya 

Nega of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Domestic Relations 

Division, ordering that the cause ofylbe 

and is hereby dismissed for want of prosecution;" and 

A January 23,2003 statement signed by Dorothy Brown, Clerk of the Circuit 

Court, Cook County, Illinois, certifying thaf "after a careful search of the 

records it has been determined that&l 

((was dismissed for want of prosecution on Aug 08,2002. No decree 

has been entered." 
leting its audits of Plan and participant data, PBGC sent a formal determination 

PBGC benefit to his Estate on June 15,2005. That letter said71 

amount of $172.51 per month from the Keokuk Plan as a Straight Life 

Annuity with no survivor benefits. You said in your July 30,2005 appeal that you believe you are 

entitled to his full pension because you were married to him for 45 years. 

Discussion 

The Keokuk Plan terminated, effective January 12, 2002, without sufficient assets to 

provide all benefits PBGC guarantees under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, and 

PBGC subsequently became trustee. The files PBGC's auditors obtained from the former Plan 

Administrator show that retired from National Castings' Melrose Park facility 

March I, 2000. The files include a copy of his Retirement Plan Participant Data foqn signed 

March 3, 2000, on which he checked "unmarried" as his marital status. He also signed his 

A lication for Monthly Pension Benefits on that date and declinedthe Plan's survivor option.= fk began receiving a pension of $172.5 1 per month in the form of a Straight Life Annuity with no survivor benefit on March 1,2000, and continued receiving that amount until his death. 

Under Plan section 6.2, the automatic form of benefit for a participant who is not married 

on his or her annuity starting date is a Straight Life Annuity, which provides a lifetime benefit to 

the participant with no survivor benefit. The automatic form for a married participant is a 

Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity ("QJSA"), which provides a reduced benefit for the 

participant's lifetime and 50% of that reduced benefit to an eligible spouse for the rest of the 

spouse's life. A married participant can receive a benefit in another fonn offered by the Plan only 

if the participant's eligible spouse signs a form agreeing to a benefit form other than the QJSA 

within 90 days of the annuity starting date. 

While researching your appeal, the Appeals Board found that the August 8,2002 Order of 

Dismissal you sent ~~GCrefer~to a divorce petition filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, 

Illimois, on March 26, 1994 1 Based on this information, the information you submitted, and the information in 

PBGCs files, the Board concluded that you 4 

1 annuity starting date). Therefore, without a signed waiver &om you,= 

[benefit was payable only as a QJSA. You are entitled to the survivor portion of the 

QJSA beginning with the fxst of the month following his death. 

Please note that monthly benefit as a QJSA is lower that his benefit as a 

Straight Life Annuity and, as a result, he was overpaid. 
Decision 

Having applied the law and Plan provisions to the facts in this case, the A eals Board 

changed PBGC's June 15, 2005 determination by finding that (1 jpPpbenefit was 

payable as a Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity instead of a Straight Life Annuity and (2) you 

are entitled to the survivor portion of that benefit. 

We will forward a copy of this letter to PBGC's Benefits Administration and Payment 

Department, who will send you a new determination of your monthly benefit amount with a new 

45-day right of appeal for matters not decided in this letter. They will also determine whether you 

are entitled to backpayments and pay any net underpayment in a single lump sum with interest. 

Meanwhile, if you have questions, please call PBGC's Customer Contact Center at 1-800- 

400-7242. 

Sincerely, 

Linda M. Mizzi 

Member, Appeals Board