(a) Benefits will be paid commencing on the first day of the month in which it has been determined that the member became totally disabled, provided that no period of total disability shall be considered to commence before the "A" member has completed twenty (20) or more years in continuous good standing.

(b) The applicant for disability pension benefits must maintain his continuous good standing as an "A" member until the date of approval of his application by the l.E.C. and shall, in the event of such approval, receive a full refund of I.0. dues from the date of commencement of his total disability. The period following the commencement of total disability shall not be counted in computing the amount of disability pension benefit.

(a) Benefit Level

Upon the death, after September 10, 2001, of a nonretired "A" member who then has at least six (6) months continuous and active good standing, the beneficiary to receive the death benefits payable under this Paragraph shall be paid the sum of six thousand two hundred fifty dollars ($6,250.00) if the said "A" member died from natural causes, or the sum of twelve thousand five hundred dollars ($12,500.00) if the said "A" member died by accidental means. However, no death benefit shall be payable upon the death of a nonretired "A" member if such member was more than two months in arrears in dues payments, unless it can be demonstrated that the arrearage was not the fault of the member in which case the death benefit shall be reduced by the amount of the arrearage. Upon the death from either natural causes or accidental means of an "A" member after September 10, 2001, who is retired under Section 1 or Section 2, the beneficiary to receive the death benefits shall be paid a sum computed by subtracting from six thousand two hundred fifty dollars ($6,250.00) all pension benefits paid by the I.B.E.W. Pension Benefit Fund to the retired member. However, in no event shall the amount of the death benefit due as a result of the death of an "A" member retired under Section 1 or Section 2 be less than three thousand dollars ($3,000.00), except as provided in Section 4(c) below. All death benefits payable under this provision are payable without interest.

(b) Beneficiaries

Upon the failure of any member to name an original beneficiary, or to name a new beneficiary after the death or inability to take of one previously named, the death benefit shall be payable to the following individual(s) in the indicated order of priority: 1) member's spouse; 2) member's children; 3) member's parents; and 4) member's estate. Every "A" member shall have the right to name the person or persons, including the member's estate, who are to be the member's beneficiary or beneficiaries under the death benefit provisions of the I.B.E.W. Pension Benefit Fund. Every member shall have the privilege of changing beneficiaries. If the beneficiary entitled to the death benefit (either the beneficiary named by the "A" member or the individual(s) in the indicated order of priority stated above) cannot be located or does not file a claim for the death benefit within ninety (90) days after the date of death, the benefit may be paid to a contingent beneficiary or in the indicated order of priority stated above. If no valid claim is filed, no appropriate beneficiary can be located, and the member has no estate to which the benefit can be paid, the death benefit shall revert to the I.B.E.W. Pension Benefit Fund on the second anniversary of the member's death and no benefit will be paid subsequent to the reversion.

(c) Set Off of Death Benefit

If the I.B.E.W. Pension Benefit Fund has sent pension checks payable to the deceased member after the member's death as a result of a failure to notify the Fund of the death of the member, and the recipient of those pension checks has not returned them to the Fund, but retained the pension money, the Fund may set off from the death benefit, and refuse to pay to any beneficiary, the amount equal to the total amount of the pension overpayment.

(a) Continuous Good Standing
Any period of membership used in determining eligibility or in computing benefits shall include only consecutive years of "A" membership in good standing in the I.B.E.W., except that years of membership when on pension or disability pension shall not be counted. Any member that transfers from "A" membership status to "BA" membership status or who is dropped from membership after six months' delinquency in dues payments or who has accepted honorary withdrawal card status shall not be considered in good standing for purposes of determining eligibility for or in computing benefits under this Article. In addition, a member shall not be eligible for pension approval while such member has an outstanding L.U. trial board assessment. Provided further that, if a member who has been granted a normal pension, an early retirement pension, a disability pension, or a vested pension right returns to the electrical industry and "A" membership, a benefit based on the period of continuous "A" membership after such return shall be added to the amount of his previous normal pension, early retirement pension, disability pension, or vested pension right.