Survivor Benefits Offer Peace Of Mind

When Michael Evans lost his wife, Wanda, to complications from cancer in 2011, he knew he'd have to quickly deal with the financial implications of her death - from funeral expenses to clearing credit card debts.

During a tough time for both himself and his son, Evans was grateful to have extra support from Duke. As part of Duke's benefits, he received survivor benefits because his wife had worked as an administrative assistant in Duke University Health System for about 20 years.

"We're very fortunate to be a part of the Duke family because with everything we had to deal with, the benefits employees were very supportive and made all the paperwork such a smooth transition," said Evans, a conference center director with Aramark, a food service vendor at Duke. "There was a personal touch to all aspects of the process, which made it easier to deal with the situation."

Duke's survivor benefits provide a lump sum payment to the spouse or registered same-sex spousal equivalent in the event of death while employed by Duke. If single, the sum is paid to an employee's estate. This payment is one month's pay for each complete year of full time service up to a maximum of six months of pay. For family members to receive the lump sum survivor benefit, an eligible employee must have at least one year of service at Duke and be an active staff member regularly scheduled to work at least 30 hours per week, or a regular rank faculty member.

In addition, Duke provides $10,000 of basic life and $10,000 of accidental death and dismemberment insurance for active employees regularly scheduled to work at least 20 hours a week and regular rank faculty.

"When you deal with an unexpected death, something like this can be a big help to the family," said Lois Ann Green, assistant vice president of Human Resources and Benefits at Duke. "We want to make sure Duke is there to provide a means to help each family with this difficult time and help deal with any financial commitments."

The money provided to Evans and his son, Jamal, paid for Wanda's funeral and helped cover costs as Jamal went back to college at Winston-Salem State University.

"It was a tremendous relief that it was one less thing to worry about," Evans said. "Having the benefit available to us meant a lot to my family."