§ 3-408. DEATH BENEFITS.  


Latest version.
  • (a)

    Upon a member's death before retirement, the Retirement System shall be liable for a death benefit which, if an amount be due under paragraph (3) of this subsection or an allowance be payable under Section 3-416, and if there be a surviving spouse or surviving domestic partner or surviving children or parents, shall be paid in monthly installments and to the surviving spouse or surviving domestic partner and children and parents as prescribed therein; otherwise such death benefit shall be paid to such person having an insurable interest in the member's life as the member shall nominate by written designation duly executed and filed with the Retirement Board or, if the member has not designated such person or if the person so designated is not living at the time of payment, to the member's estate. Such death benefit shall consist of:

    (1)

    The member's accumulated contributions, and in addition thereto;

    (2)

    An amount equal to one-sixth of the member's compensation earnable during the six months immediately preceding the member's death multiplied by the member's completed years of service as a member of the system not to exceed six, and if such death is service-connected, in the opinion of the Retirement Board, in addition thereto;

    (3)

    An amount sufficient, when added to the amounts provided in the next preceding paragraphs (1) and (2) to provide, when applied according to mortality tables and interest rate adopted by the Board, a monthly death allowance, equal to the service retirement allowance which the member would have received if the member had retired for service on the day of the member's death, provided the member was at least fifty years of age and was entitled to be credited with at least twenty years of service, but such allowance shall not be less than one-half of the member's average compensation; otherwise, equal to one-half of the member's average compensation, to be paid to the surviving spouse or surviving domestic partner, to continue as long as the spouse or domestic partner shall live; or if there be no qualifying surviving spouse or qualifying surviving domestic partner, or if the spouse or domestic partner shall die, to the child or children of the member who are unmarried or not in a domestic partnership, collectively, under the age of eighteen years, to continue until every such child dies or marries or establishes a domestic partnership or attains age eighteen; provided that no child shall receive any allowance after marrying or attaining age eighteen. Should the member leave no surviving spouse or surviving domestic partner and no children under the age of eighteen years, but leaves a parent or parents dependent upon the member for support, the parents so dependent shall collectively receive a monthly allowance equal to that which a surviving spouse or surviving domestic partner would have otherwise received during such dependency. If payment of the allowance be stopped because of death of the surviving spouse or death of the surviving domestic partner or attainment of the age of eighteen years by, or the death or marriage or domestic partnership of, a child, or the death or cessation of dependency of a parent, before the sum of the monthly payments made shall equal the sum of the amounts provided in the next preceding paragraphs (1) and (2), then an amount equal to the difference between said sums shall be paid in one amount, to the surviving children of the deceased member, share and share alike.

    (b)

    Upon the death of a member who, after five years of service, has discontinued service and elected to allow his or her accumulated contributions to remain in the Retirement Fund, the Retirement System shall be liable, in the event the member dies four or more months after discontinuance of service, for a death benefit consisting of the member's accumulated contributions only. Such benefit shall be paid to the member's estate, or to such person as the member has nominated or shall nominate by written designation duly executed and filed with the Retirement Board.

    (c)

    A member, or a beneficiary after the death of a member, may elect, by written designation duly executed and filed with the Retirement Board, to have the death benefit provided in this section paid in monthly or annual installments instead of in one lump sum, subject to such rules and regulations as the said Board may adopt.

    (d)

    A person, while a member or after retirement, shall have the right to revoke the nomination of a beneficiary he or she made under the Retirement System, and to nominate another beneficiary, all by written designation duly executed and filed with the Retirement Board, provided that this right shall not extend to beneficiaries nominated under Options 2 and 3, Section 3-417.

    (e)

    With respect to members retiring on or before the effective date of Ordinance No. 2000-4, an allowance shall be paid under this section to a surviving spouse only if the spouse was married to the member prior to the date of the sustaining of the injury or the onset of the illness which resulted in the member's death or, if such date was more than one year prior to his or her death, only if the spouse was married to the member at least one year prior to the member's death. With respect to members retiring after the effective date of Ordinance No. 2000-4, an allowance shall be paid under this section to a surviving spouse only if the spouse was married to the member prior to the date of death or to a surviving domestic partner only if the domestic partner had established a domestic partnership with the member prior to the death of the member.

(Added Ord. 90-73, § 1, eff. 8-27-90; Am. Ord. 95-42, § 12, eff. 6-23-95; Am. Ord. 2000-4, § 4, eff. 2-10-00; Am. Ord. 2001-17, § 1, eff. 3-26-01; Am. Ord. 2001-72, § 7, eff. 11-10-01; Am. Ord. 2006-16, § 2, eff. 3-10-06).