2009 California Government Code - Section 21620-21635.5 :: Article 5. Postretirement Death Benefits

21620.  (a) Upon the death of any person, after retirement and while
receiving a retirement allowance from this system, there shall be
paid to his or her beneficiary as he or she shall nominate by written
designation duly executed and filed with the board, the sum of five
hundred dollars ($500), to be provided from contributions by the
state or contracting agency, as the case may be.
   (b) This section shall apply to all contracting agencies and to
the employees of those agencies.

21621.  If the beneficiary of a member retired under this system is
entitled to receive a comparable lump-sum death benefit from any
other retirement system supported, in whole or in part, by public
funds in which he or she was a member in employment subsequent to his
or her last employment in which he or she was a member of this
system, no payment shall be made under Section 21620, 21622, 21623,
21623.5, or 21623.6 providing for payment of a lump-sum death benefit
to a member's designated beneficiary.

21622.  (a) In lieu of benefits provided by Section 21620, upon the
death of any person, after retirement and while receiving a
retirement allowance from this system, there shall be paid to the
beneficiary whom he or she shall nominate by written designation duly
executed and filed with the board, the sum of six hundred dollars
($600), to be provided from contributions by the employer.
   (b) For the purposes of this section, all contributions,
liabilities, actuarial interest rates, and other valuation factors
shall be determined on the basis of actuarial assumptions and methods
that, in the aggregate, are reasonable and that, in combination,
offer the actuary's best estimate of anticipated experience under
this system.
   (c) The additional employer contributions required under this
section shall be computed as a level percentage of member
compensation. The additional contribution rate required at the time
this section is added to a contract shall not be less than the sum of
(1) the actuarial normal cost and, (2) the additional contribution
required to amortize the increase in accrued liability attributable
to benefits elected under this section over a period of not more than
30 years from the date this section becomes effective in the
contracting agency's contract.
   (d) This section shall not apply to any contracting agency, except
for those contracting agencies that are school employers and those
school districts or community college districts, as defined in
subdivision (i) of Section 20057, until the agency elects to be
subject to this section by amendment to its contract made in the
manner prescribed for approval of contracts, except an election among
the employees is not required, or, in the case of contracts made
after January 1, 1981, by express provision in the contract making
the contracting agency subject to this section.

21623.  (a) In lieu of benefits provided by Section 21620 or 21622,
upon the death of any retired state or school member, after
retirement and while receiving a retirement allowance from this
system, there shall be paid to the beneficiary whom he or she shall
nominate by written designation duly executed and filed with the
board, the sum of two thousand dollars ($2,000), to be provided from
contributions by the employer.
   (b) For the purposes of this section, all contributions,
liabilities, actuarial interest rates, and other valuation factors
shall be determined on the basis of actuarial assumptions and methods
that, in the aggregate, are reasonable and that, in combination,
offer the actuary's best estimate of anticipated experience under
this system.
   (c) The additional employer contributions required under this
section shall be computed as a level percentage of member
compensation.
   (d) This section shall apply to a school employer and a retired
school member whose death after retirement occurs on or after January
1, 2001. This section shall not apply to any contracting agency or
local member, except those contracting agencies that are school
employers and those school districts or community college districts
as defined in subdivision (i) of Section 20057.

21623.5.  (a) In lieu of benefits provided by Sections 21620 and
21622 upon the death of any local member, after retirement and while
receiving a retirement allowance from this system, there shall be
paid to the beneficiary whom he or she shall nominate by written
designation duly executed and filed with the board, the sum of two
thousand dollars ($2,000), three thousand dollars ($3,000), four
thousand dollars ($4,000), or five thousand dollars ($5,000),
whichever amount is designated by the employer in its contract, to be
provided from contributions by the employer.
   (b) For the purposes of this section, all contributions,
liabilities, actuarial interest rates, and other valuation factors
shall be determined on the basis of actuarial assumptions and methods
that, in the aggregate, are reasonable and that, in combination,
offer the actuary's best estimate of anticipated experience under the
system.
   (c) The additional employer contributions required under this
section shall be computed as a level percentage of member
compensation.
   (d) This section shall not apply to a contracting agency unless
and until the agency elects to be subject to this section by
amendment to its contract made in the manner prescribed for approval
of contracts, except an election among the employees is not required
or in the case of contracts made on or after January 1, 1999, except
by express provision in the contract making the contracting agency
subject to this section.

21623.6.  (a) In lieu of benefits provided by Sections 21620, 21622,
and 21623, upon the death of any school member, after retirement and
while receiving a retirement allowance from this system, there shall
be paid to the beneficiary whom he or she shall nominate by written
designation duly executed and filed with the board, the sum of three
thousand dollars ($3,000), four thousand dollars ($4,000), or five
thousand dollars ($5,000), whichever amount is designated by the
employer in its contract, to be provided from contributions by the
employer.
   (b) For the purposes of this section, all contributions,
liabilities, actuarial interest rates, and other valuation factors
shall be determined on the basis of actuarial assumptions and methods
that, in the aggregate, are reasonable and that, in combination,
offer the actuary's best estimate of anticipated experience under the
system.
   (c) The additional employer contributions required under this
section shall be computed as a level percentage of member
compensation.
   (d) This section shall not apply to a school employer unless and
until it elects to be subject to this section by amendment to its
contract made in the manner prescribed for approval of contracts or,
in the case of contracts made on or after January 1, 2001, except by
express provision in the contract making the school employer subject
to this section.

21624.  Upon the death of a patrol, state peace officer/firefighter,
or state safety member whose retirement for service or disability is
effective on or after April 1, 1973, a monthly allowance derived
from employer contributions equal to a percentage of the amount of
his or her retirement allowance as it was at his or her death based
on service credited to him or her as a member subject to this
section, but excluding any portion of the retirement allowance
derived from additional contributions of the member, shall be paid to
the surviving spouse throughout life. The percentage shall be 25
percent for an allowance based on service for which the allowance is
reduced because the service was also covered under the federal system
and 50 percent for an allowance based on any other service. If there
is no surviving spouse, or upon the death of the surviving spouse,
the allowance shall be paid collectively to every unmarried child of
the deceased member who has not attained age 18, or who is disabled
by a condition that disabled that child prior to attaining age 18 and
that has continued without interruption after age 18, until the
disability ceases. If, at the time of the retired member's death,
there is no eligible surviving spouse or children, the allowance
shall be paid to a parent, or collectively to parents, of the
deceased member dependent upon him or her for support. If, on the
effective date of his or her retirement, the member has no surviving
spouse, eligible children, or dependent parents and elected an
optional settlement, no allowance under this section shall be paid.
   "Surviving spouse," for purposes of service retirements subject to
this section, means a husband or wife who was married to the member
for a continuous period beginning at least one year prior to his or
her retirement and ending on the date of his or her death and, for
purposes of disability retirements subject to this section, means a
husband or wife who was married to the member on the date of his or
her retirement and continuously to the date of his or her death.

21625.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, upon the
member's election to be subject to Section 21460, the benefits
provided by Section 21624, 21626, 21627, 21628, 21629, or 21630, as
applicable, shall be payable only to the member's eligible surviving
spouse and for his or her lifetime. The benefit shall not cease upon
the remarriage of the surviving spouse.

21626.  "Member" for purposes of Section 21624 also includes those
local miscellaneous members and local safety members who on March 31,
1973 were subject to former Sections 21264, as amended by Chapter
249 of the Statutes of 1971 and 21264.1, as added by Chapter 150 of
the Statutes of 1971, as those sections read prior to their repeal on
April 1, 1973. "Member" shall not include any other local
miscellaneous or local safety member or apply to any contracting
agency employing the member until the agency elects to be subject to
Section 21624 by amendment to its contract made in the manner
prescribed for approval of contracts, except that an election among
employees shall not be required or, in the case of contracts made on
or after April 1, 1973, by express provision of the contract. The
election may be exercised separately with respect to local safety
members who are firefighters, local safety members who are police
officers, local safety members other than police officers or
firefighters, and local miscellaneous members. The operative date of
Section 21624 for purposes of application to that section to those
local members shall be the effective date of the contract or contract
amendment.
   "Surviving spouse" shall mean, for a member subject to Section
21624, who retires for disability retirement on or after January 1,
1995, a husband or wife who was married to the member on the date of
his or her retirement and continuously to the date of his or her
death.

21626.5.  For purposes of Section 21624, 21626, 21627, 21629, or
21630, a surviving domestic partner shall be treated in the same
manner as a surviving spouse if either:
   (a) The domestic partnership was registered for one year prior to
the member's service retirement date or at the disability retirement
date and continuously until the date of the member's death.
   (b) The member retired prior to January 1, 2006, and both the
member and his or her domestic partner, who currently are in a
state-registered domestic partnership, sign an affidavit stating
that, at the time prescribed by the retirement system for married
spouses to qualify for survivor continuance, the member and the
domestic partner would have qualified to be registered as domestic
partners pursuant to Section 297 of the Family Code.

21627.  (a) An eligible survivor of a state safety member who
retired prior to April 1, 1973, and died prior to September 28, 1987,
shall receive a monthly survivor's allowance, derived solely from
employer contributions and not from any contributions from the
member, equal to 50 percent of the amount of the member's retirement
allowance payable to the member at the time of his or her death. The
member's monthly allowance shall have been based on his or her
credited service. An eligible survivor of a state safety member who
retired prior to April 1, 1973, and died on or after September 28,
1987, shall receive a monthly survivor's allowance determined
pursuant to Section 21624.
   (b) The benefit provided by this section shall not be offset by
any entitlement of the survivor under the federal system.
   (c) The benefit is payable to the surviving spouse for life.
   (d) If there is no surviving spouse of the retired member, or upon
the death of a surviving spouse, the benefit authorized by this
section shall be paid to an eligible child or to eligible children.
   (e) If, at the time of the death of the retired member there is no
surviving spouse or eligible child or children, the benefit
authorized by this section shall be paid to the parent or parents of
the deceased member who were dependent upon the member for support.
   (f) If, at the effective date of his or her retirement, the member
was unmarried, or if, at the time of his or her death, the member
had no eligible child or children, had no dependent parent or
parents, and had elected an optional settlement, no survivor's
allowance authorized by this section shall vest in or be paid to any
individual.
   (g) "Surviving spouse," for purposes of this section, means a
husband or wife who was married to the member for a period of time
beginning one year or more prior to his or her retirement and
continuing without interruption until the death of the member.
   (h) "Eligible child," for purposes of this section, means an
unmarried child of the deceased member who (1) has not attained age
18, or (2) is over age 18 but disabled due to a condition that
existed and disabled the child prior to his or her 18th birthday and
that has continuously disabled the person after having reached age
18. Eligibility of the child for the benefits of this section shall
terminate upon the earlier of the following:
   (1) Attainment of age 18, unless the disability exemption applies.
   (2) Marriage of the child prior to age 18.
   (3) Cessation of a child's disability.
   (4) Death of a child.
   (i) The allowance paid pursuant to this section shall be adjusted
to reflect a one-half continuance allowance with no offset by reason
of participation in the federal system. The adjustment provided by
this section shall be applied to any survivor receiving a continuance
allowance on September 28, 1987. Nothing in this section was or is
intended to, or shall be construed to, impair any vested rights of
any eligible survivor of a state safety member who retired prior to
April 1, 1973, and who died on or after September 28, 1987.

21628.  The allowance provided by Section 21624 shall be paid with
respect to a local miscellaneous or local safety member whose
retirement was effective prior to his or her employer's election to
be subject to the section with respect to employees in his or her
employment, if at retirement he or she did not elect optional
settlement 2 or 3 or an optional settlement involving life
contingency under optional settlement 4. The retirement allowance
payable to a retired member who elected any of these optional
settlements, or to a beneficiary of a retired member, shall be
increased by 15 percent, for time on and after the operative date and
prior to the next annual adjustment under Article 3 (commencing with
Section 21310 ) of Chapter 13 and the base allowance shall be
increased by 15 percent for purpose of that and all subsequent annual
adjustments. The amount payable to the beneficiary under the
optional settlement shall be increased by the same percentage and in
the same manner as the increase provided for the payment to the
member.
   The increased allowance provided by this section shall not be
payable to a beneficiary who is receiving an allowance pursuant to
this article or Article 4 (commencing with Section 21350) of Chapter
13 on September 29, 1980, until the employer of the retired member
elects to be subject to this section as so amended by amendment to
its contract made in the manner prescribed for approval of contracts,
except that an election among employees shall not be required. In
the case of contracts made on or after September 29, 1980, the
operative date of Section 21624, for purposes of application of that
section to local members, shall be the effective date of the contract
or contract amendment.

21629.  Upon the death, after the effective date of retirement, of a
state miscellaneous member none of whose service rendered in state
employment has been included in the federal system and whose
retirement is effective on or after July 1, 1974, or of a school
member or school safety member none of whose service rendered in
school service or school safety service has been included in the
federal system and whose retirement is effective on or after July 1,
1983, a monthly allowance derived from employer contributions equal
to 50 percent of the amount of his or her retirement allowance as it
was at his or her death and based on service credited to him or her
as a member subject to this section but excluding any portion of the
retirement allowance derived from additional contributions of the
member shall be paid to the surviving spouse throughout life. If
there is no surviving spouse, or upon the death of the surviving
spouse, the allowance shall be paid collectively to every unmarried
child of the deceased member who has not attained age 18, or who is
disabled by a condition which disabled that child prior to attaining
age 18 and which has continued without interruption after age 18,
until the disability ceases. If at the time of the retired member's
death there is no eligible surviving spouse or children, the
allowance shall be paid to a parent, or collectively to parents, of
the deceased member dependent upon him or her for support. If on the
effective date of retirement there is a person who will be eligible
if the person survives, the member's election of an optional
settlement other than optional settlement 1 shall apply only to a
portion of his or her allowance as provided in Section 21451 with
respect to allowances under Section 21624. If on the effective date
of his or her retirement the member has no surviving spouse, eligible
children, or dependent parents and elected an optional settlement,
no allowance under this section shall be paid.
   "Surviving spouse," for purposes of service retirement subject to
this section, means a husband or wife who was married to the member
for a continuous period beginning at least one year prior to his or
her retirement and ending on the date of his or her death and, for
purposes of disability retirement subject to this section where the
member retired on or after January 1, 1995, means a husband or wife
who was married to the member on the date of his or her retirement
and continuously to the date of his or her death.

21630.  Upon death after the effective date of retirement of a state
miscellaneous member some of whose service rendered in state
employment has been included in the federal system and whose
retirement is effective on or after July 1, 1975, or of a school
member or school safety member some of whose service rendered in
school employment has been included in the federal system and whose
retirement is effective on or after July 1, 1983, a monthly
allowance, derived from employer contributions, equal to a percentage
of the amount of his or her retirement allowance as it was at his or
her death based on service credited to him or her as a member
subject to this section but excluding any portion of the retirement
allowance derived from additional contributions of the member shall
be paid to the surviving spouse throughout life. The percentage shall
be 25 percent for an allowance based on service that was also
covered under the federal system and 50 percent for an allowance
based on any other service, except that the percentage shall be 50
percent for the allowance of a member whose service was subject to
Section 21076 or 21077 and who had become a member prior to November
1, 1988. If there is no surviving spouse, or upon the death of the
surviving spouse, the allowance shall be paid collectively to every
unmarried child of the deceased member who has not attained age 18,
or who is disabled by a condition that disabled that child prior to
attaining age 18 and that has continued without interruption after
age 18, until the disability ceases. If at the time of the retired
member's death there is no eligible surviving spouse or children, the
allowance shall be paid to a parent, or collectively to parents, of
the deceased member dependent upon him or her for support. If on the
effective date of retirement there is a person who will be eligible
if the person survives, the member's election of an optional
settlement, other than optional settlement 1, shall apply only to a
portion of the allowance as provided in Section 21451 with respect to
allowances under Section 21624. If on the effective date of his or
her retirement the member has no surviving spouse, eligible children,
or dependent parents and elected an optional settlement, no
allowance under this section shall be paid.
   "Surviving spouse," for purposes of service retirement subject to
this section, means a husband or wife who was married to the member
for a continuous period beginning at least one year prior to his or
her retirement and ending on the date of his or her death and, for
purposes of disability retirement subject to this section where the
member retired on or after January 1, 1995, means a husband or wife
who was married to the member on the date of his or her retirement
and continuously to the date of his or her death.

21631.  (a) The monthly allowance provided by Sections 21629 and
21630 shall be paid on account of retired school members who did not
at retirement elect optional settlement 2 or 3 or an optional
settlement involving life contingency under optional settlement 4.
   (b) Upon receipt of a written application for benefits at the
office of the board, the benefits provided by this section shall be
payable to eligible survivors of retired school members who are not
receiving a monthly allowance on account of miscellaneous service as
a state member.
   (c) When there are no records in the board's possession that
contain necessary data for determining the retirement benefit
claimed, the applicant or applicants for the benefit shall be
required to establish entitlement to the benefit upon evidence
satisfactory to the board. That data, at a minimum, shall be
sufficient to establish the date of the retired member's death and
the amount of the retired member's monthly allowance payable at the
time of his or her death. The net benefit payable to the retired
school member at the date of death may be determined by the board on
the basis of the evidence submitted or upon other evidence if that
evidence allows the board to determine the unmodified allowance
payable on the date of death. The board shall use available evidence,
whether from information provided by the applicant, partial records
in possession of the board, or from other sources, as the basis for
assumptions that are necessary in order to calculate the allowance
payable to the eligible survivor or survivors.
   (d) The benefits provided by this section shall be subject to the
same eligibility and termination provisions that apply to members at
their retirement and shall be paid commencing on the first day of the
month succeeding the month in which the application for the benefits
of this section is received by the board.
   (e) The board has no duty to identify, locate, or notify any
survivor of a retired school member who may potentially be eligible
for the benefits of this section. The board has no duty to provide
the name or address of any potential survivor to any person, agency,
or entity for the purpose of notifying survivors who may potentially
be eligible for the benefits of this section.
   (f) The cost of the additional benefits provided pursuant to the
trial court decision in California State Employees Association, et
al. v. Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement
System et al. (Sacramento County Superior Court, Case No. 332315)
shall be paid out of the reserve against deficiencies established by
Section 20174.

21632.  (a) The monthly allowances provided by Sections 21629 and
21630 shall be paid on account of retired state miscellaneous members
who did not at retirement elect optional settlement 2 or 3 or an
optional settlement involving life contingency under optional
settlement 4 and whose retirement dates were effective before July 1,
1974, with respect to members who were not covered by the federal
system, and before July 1, 1975, with respect to members who were
covered under the federal system. Upon receipt of a written
application by the board, the benefits provided by this section shall
be payable to eligible survivors of retired members who are not
receiving a monthly allowance on account of miscellaneous service as
a state member. However, if, on the date the application is received
by the board, there is no longer in existence a record in the board's
possession setting forth the retirement data relating to the retired
member, the applicant survivor or survivors of the retired member
shall be required, as a condition precedent to his or her entitlement
to the benefit provided by this section, to furnish documentary
evidence satisfactory to the board to enable it to determine the date
of the retired member's death and the amount of the member's
allowance that was currently payable at the time of death. The net
benefit payable to the retired member at the time of death shall be
determined on the basis of the evidence submitted, unless the board
is able to determine the unmodified allowance payable at the time of
death. If the allowance payable to an eligible survivor is based on
evidence furnished by the survivor or partial member records in the
board's possession, or both, the board shall use that information to
assume any additional factors required to calculate the allowance
payable. The benefits shall be subject to the same eligibility and
termination provisions that apply to members at retirement and shall,
subject to subdivision (b), be paid only for the period of time
commencing on the first of the month following receipt by the board
of the application for the benefits. The board has no duty to locate
or notify any potential survivor or to provide the name or address of
any potential survivor to any person, agency, or entity for the
purpose of notifying survivors.
   (b) Upon receipt of a written application pursuant to subdivision
(a), the benefits provided by this section shall be paid both
prospectively and retroactively for the period of time commencing
with the first day of the month following receipt of the application.
   (c) The payment of benefits pursuant to this section, as amended
by Chapter 788 of the Statutes of 1984, shall commence no sooner than
January 1, 1985.

21633.  The monthly allowance provided by Section 21624 shall be
paid on account of patrol and state safety members retired for
nonindustrial disability with effective dates of retirement prior to
April 1, 1972, and who did not at retirement elect optional
settlement 2 or 3 or an optional settlement involving life
contingency under optional settlement 4. Upon receipt of a written
application by the board, the benefits provided by this section shall
also be payable to eligible survivors of retired members who are not
receiving a monthly allowance on account of service as a patrol or
state safety member if the retired member was alive and receiving a
monthly allowance on June 30, 1974. The benefits shall be subject to
the same eligibility and termination provisions that apply to members
at retirement and shall be paid only for the period of time
commencing on the first of the month following receipt by the board
of the application for those benefits.

21634.  Any provision of this article or Article 4 (commencing with
Section 21350) of Chapter 13 imposing as a condition for payment of
an allowance to a surviving spouse that he or she have been married
to the member for at least one year prior to retirement shall be
deemed satisfied if the member was required to retire because of
attainment of mandatory retirement age within one year following an
amendment to the retirement law or the contracting agency's contract
lowering the mandatory retirement age for his or her category of
membership, and the surviving spouse was married to the member on the
date of the amendment.

21635.  Notwithstanding any other provisions of this part, survivor
continuance allowances payable to surviving spouses upon death after
retirement of a member do not cease upon remarriage if the remarriage
occurs on or after January 1, 1985, in the case of local members of
contracting agencies that elected to be subject to this section, or
all members on or after January 1, 2000. However, pursuant to Section
22822, the surviving spouse may not add the new spouse or
stepchildren as family members under the continued health benefits
coverage of the surviving spouse. The survivor continuance allowance
shall be restored if that allowance has been discontinued upon the
spouse's remarriage prior to January 1, 2000.
   (a) The allowance shall be resumed on January 1, 2000, or the
first of the month, following receipt by the board of a written
application from the spouse for resumption of the allowance,
whichever is later.
   (b) The amount of the benefits due shall be calculated as though
the allowance had never been discontinued because of remarriage, and
is not payable for the period between the date of discontinuance
because of remarriage and the effective date of resumption.
   (c) The board has no duty to identify, locate, or notify a spouse
who previously had his or her allowance discontinued because of
remarriage.

21635.5.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, on
and after the effective date of this section, the remarriage of the
surviving spouse of a deceased local safety member who was a
firefighter, or peace officer as described in Chapter 4.5 (commencing
with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, whose
death after retirement was due to injuries which resulted in
industrial disability retirement, may not result in the reduction or
cessation of any survivor continuance if the remarriage occurs on or
after January 1, 1998. However, pursuant to Section 22822, the
surviving spouse may not add the new spouse or stepchildren as family
members under the continued health benefits coverage of the
surviving spouse.
   (b) The surviving spouse of a deceased retired local safety member
whose death after retirement was due to injuries which resulted in
industrial disability retirement who previously lost entitlement due
to remarriage shall be entitled to resume payment of the benefit
effective either on January 1, 1999, or the first of the month
following receipt by the board of a written application for
resumption of benefits, whichever date is later. The amount of the
benefit payable shall be calculated as though the benefit had been
paid without interruption from the date of remarriage through the
benefit resumption effective date.
   (c) The board has no duty to identify, locate, or notify a
remarried spouse who previously lost entitlement about the resumption
of benefits provided in this section. The board has no duty to
provide the name or address of any remarried spouse to any person,
agency, or entity for the purpose of notifying those who may be
eligible under this section.
   (d) Nothing in this section may be construed to imply that the
benefits addressed will be paid retroactively.