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. Depending on the situation, they may receive monthly benefits for a limited time or for the rest of their life.

Here are some examples:

A retired member who elects a Joint and Survivor Annuity designates one (and only one) joint annuitant at the time of retirement. Often, the joint annuitant is the retiree's spouse, but it may be another individual. If the retiree passes away prior to the joint annuitant, TRS pays a continuing benefit to the joint annuitant for the rest of their life. The benefit amount is either one-half, two-thirds, or the full amount of the retiree's benefit, depending upon the option elected by the TRS member at retirement.

Surviving eligible beneficiaries 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.

Some ex-spouses of TRS members receive a monthly benefit as well. See "Family Law Orders," below. 

Some individuals receive multiple benefits. This may occur, for example, when the individual is both a TRS retiree and the survivor of another TRS member who passed away, or when they receive monthly survivor benefits from more than one TRS member/retiree who passed away.

Benefit recipients may sign into My TRS to view information about their net monthly benefit amount, tax withholding, and more. For access instructions, see the Using 'My TRS' webpage.

When a TRS member divorces and a court order directs TRS to distribute a portion of the member's retirement benefit or account balance to the ex-spouse, that individual will receive a lump-sum or monthly payment according to the terms of the court order, which is known as a Family Law Order (FLO) in TRS law. For details, see the Family Law Orders webpage.

• Some (not all) FLOs direct TRS to begin making monthly payments to the ex-spouse (known as the alternate payee) at a specified time.
• Once those monthly payments have begun, the alternate payee may sign into My TRS to view information about the net monthly benefit amount, tax withholding, and more. For access instructions, see the Using 'My TRS' webpage.