Meaning when the person dies there is still a payout. Survivors benefits is the proper term. Apologies.
With his the payment literally stops on the day of his death and I got nothing. There was still like 40 grand in there that they just kept.
Just check into yours and make sure is all I am saying. I am sure he thought the same, but once you are gone there isn't much you can do about it.
Another small bit of advice is to keep up with everything and stay on top of it.
20 years ago my mother was awarded half of the value of that same 401k in a divorce.
She kept the claims paperwork in a folder until she was ready to retire(this year). Turns out the company who administered that 401k has been bought and sold 7 times in the last 20 years and finally shuttered due to bankruptcy. We spent MONTHS trying to get that money. I contacted a few attorneys and even used LinkedIn to find a bunch of employees that used to work for said company. The same message from all of them "sorry it's too late. The money is gone."
I learned a lot about this stuff in the last 2 years, unfortunately. It seems like every move is designed to help you lose your money.