Benefit Payments

Retired TRS members receive a monthly benefit for life, no matter how long they live. Once a TRS member has retired and their benefit amount has been calculated and finalized, neither TRS nor the Montana Legislature may reduce that guaranteed benefit.

TRS processes monthly benefit payments on the last business day of the month.

You may have noticed widespread use of the term benefit recipient on this website and in other TRS materials. This is because retirees are not the only individuals who receive monthly benefits from TRS. Certain survivors and ex-spouses also receive monthly benefits, which may be payable for life or for a limited time, depending on the situation.

Here are some examples:

A joint annuitant of a retired member is eligible to receive a continuing benefit for the rest of their life following the retiree's death. Only retired members who elected a Joint and Survivor Annuity at retirement may name a joint annuitant, and they may name only one. The joint annuitant often is the retiree's spouse, but it may be another individual. The continuing benefit paid to the joint annuitant will be one-half, two-thirds, or the full amount of the retiree's benefit, depending upon the option elected by the TRS member at retirement.

The surviving eligible beneficiary/ies of a retired member who elected either a 10-year or 20-year Period Certain and Life Annuity at retirement may receive a monthly benefit for the remainder of the period certain, if applicable. This occurs only when the retiree has passed away before receiving the equivalent of 10 or 20 years of monthly benefits. If the retiree lives beyond the period certain, no continuing benefit remains payable to any surviving beneficiary. (Retired members always receive a monthly benefit for life, regardless of how long they live.)

When a vested, active (non-retired) member of TRS passes away, the vested member's eligible beneficiaries may elect to receive a monthly benefit for the rest of their life. 

Of course, a benefit recipient can be both a survivor of a deceased member (such as a parent or spouse) and a TRS retiree receiving their own monthly benefit. These individuals receive two or more benefits.

• Survivors who receive monthly benefits may log into My TRS to view information about their net monthly benefit amount, tax withholding, and more.

When a TRS member divorces and a court order has directed TRS to distribute a portion of the member's retirement benefit or account balance to the ex-spouse, that individual (known as the alternate payee) will receive payment upon per the terms of the court order, which is known as a Family Law Order (FLO) in TRS law.

See the Family Law Orders page for more information and resources.

• Some (not all) FLOs direct TRS to begin making monthly payments to the alternate payee at a specified time. Once those payments have begun, the alternate payee may log into My TRS to view information about their net monthly benefit, tax withholding, and more