COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 173
(By Senators Foster, Barnes, Lanham, McCabe and Plymale)
____________
[Originating in the Committee on Finance;
reported February 24, 2006.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact §5-10-27 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the Public Employees Retirement
System; clarifying right of members and former members to
select certain beneficiaries for preretirement death
annuities; limiting choice of beneficiaries to receive
preretirement death annuities for new members only; providing
for preretirement death benefit of accumulated contributions
to be paid in a lump sum amount to any beneficiary or
beneficiaries chosen by a member; date of membership and date
of passage controlling election of benefits; and recognizing
exception for certain members who die as a result of active
military service.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5-10-27 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ACT.
§5-10-27. Preretirement death annuities.
(a)
In (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, in the
event any member who has ten or more years of credited service or
any former member with ten or more years of credited service and who
is entitled to a deferred annuity, pursuant to section twenty-one
of this article:
may at any time prior to the effective date of his
or her retirement, by written declaration duly executed and filed
with the board of trustees, in the same manner as if he or she were
then retiring from the employ of a participating public employer,
elect option A provided in section twenty-four of this article and
nominate a beneficiary whom the board finds to have had an insurable
interest in the life of the member. Prior to the effective date of
his or her retirement, a member may revoke his or her election of
option A and nomination of beneficiary and he or she may again prior
to his or her retirement elect option A and nominate a beneficiary
as provided in this subsection. Upon the death of a member who has
an option A election in force, his or her beneficiary, if living,
shall immediately receive an annuity computed in the same manner in
all respects as if the same member had retired the day preceding the
date of his or her death, notwithstanding that he or she might not
have attained age sixty years, and elected the said option A. If
at the time of his or her retirement a member has an option A
election in force, his or her election of option A and nomination
of beneficiary shall thereafter continue in force. As an
alternative to annuity option A, a member or former member may elect
to have the preretirement death benefit paid as a return of
accumulated contributions in a lump sum amount to any beneficiary or beneficiaries he or she chooses.
(2) In the event any member or former members, who first became
a member of the Public Employees Retirement System after the
effective date of amendments made to this session during the two
thousand six regular legislative session and who has ten or more
years of credited service and who is entitled to a deferred annuity,
pursuant to section twenty-one of this article: (1) Dies without
leaving a surviving spouse; but
(2) leaves surviving him or her a
child who is financially dependent on the member by virtue of a
permanent mental or physical disability upon evidence satisfactory
to the board; and
(3) has named the disabled child as sole
beneficiary, the disabled child shall immediately receive an annuity
computed in the same manner in all respects as if the member had:
(1) (A) Retired the day preceding the date of his or her death,
notwithstanding that he or she might not have attained age sixty or
sixty-two years, as the case may be;
(2) (B) elected option A
provided
for in section twenty-four of this article; and
(3) (C)
nominated his or her disabled child as beneficiary. A member or
former member with ten or more years of credited service, who does
not leave surviving him or her a spouse or a disabled child, may
elect to have the preretirement death benefit paid as a return of
accumulated contributions in a lump sum amount to any beneficiary
or beneficiaries he or she chooses.
(b)
(1) In the event any member who has ten or more years of
credited service, or any former member with ten or more years of
credited service and who is entitled to a deferred annuity, pursuant to section twenty-one of this article:
(1) Dies; and
(2) leaves a
surviving spouse, the surviving spouse shall immediately receive an
annuity computed in the same manner in all respects as if the
the
member had:
(1) (A) Retired the day preceding the date of his or her
death, notwithstanding that he or she might not have attained age
sixty or sixty-two years, as the case may be;
(2) (B) elected option
A provided in section twenty-four of this article; and
(3) (C)
nominated his or her surviving spouse as beneficiary. However, the
surviving spouse shall have the right to waive the annuity provided
for in this section:
Provided, That he or she executes a valid and
notarized waiver on a form provided by the board and that the member
or former member attests to the waiver. If the waiver is presented
to and accepted by the board, the member or former member, may:
nominate a beneficiary who has an insurable interest in the member's
or former member's life. As an alternative to annuity option A, the
member or former member may elect to have the preretirement death
benefit paid as a return of accumulated contributions in a lump sum
amount to any beneficiary or beneficiaries he or she chooses in the
event a waiver, as provided in this section, has been presented to
and accepted by the board.
(2) Whenever any member or former member who first became a
member of the retirement system after the effective date of the
amendments to this section made during the two thousand six regular
legislative session, and who has ten or more years of credited
service and who is entitled to a deferred annuity, pursuant to
section twenty-one of this article: Dies; and leaves a surviving spouse, the surviving spouse shall immediately receive an annuity
computed in the same manner in all respects as if the member had:
(A) Retired the day preceding the date of his or her death,
notwithstanding that he or she might not have attained age sixty or
sixty-two years, as the case may be; (B) elected option A provided
in section twenty-four of this article; and (C) nominated his or her
surviving spouse as beneficiary. However, the surviving spouse
shall have the right to waive the annuity provided in this section:
Provided, That he or she executes a valid and notarized waiver on
a form provided by the board and that the member or former member
attests to the waiver. If the waiver is presented to and accepted
by the Board, the member or former member, may: (1) Elect to have
the preretirement death benefit paid in a lump sum amount, rather
than annuity option A provided in section twenty-four of this
article, as a return of accumulated contributions to any beneficiary
or beneficiaries he or she chooses; or (2) may name his or her
surviving child, who is financially dependent on the member by
virtue of a permanent mental or physical disability, as his or her
sole beneficiary to receive an annuity computed in the same manner
in all respects as if the member had: (A) Retired the day preceding
the date of his or her death, notwithstanding that he or she might
not have attained the age of sixty or sixty-two as the case may be;
(B) elected option A provided in section twenty-four of this
article; and (C) nominated his or her disabled child as beneficiary.
(c) In the event any member who has ten or more years of
credited service or any former member with ten or more years of credited service and who is entitled to a deferred annuity, pursuant
to section twenty-one of this article: (1) Dies without leaving
surviving him or her a spouse; but (2) leaves surviving him or her
an infant child or children; and (3) does not have a beneficiary
nominated as provided in subsection (a) of this section, the infant
child or children are entitled to an annuity to be calculated as
follows: The annuity reserve shall be calculated as though the
member had retired as of the date of his or her decease and elected
a straight life annuity and the amount of the annuity reserve shall
be paid in equal monthly installments to the member's infant child
or children until the child or children attain age twenty-one or
sooner marry or become emancipated; however, in no event shall any
child or children receive more than two hundred fifty dollars per
month each. The annuity payments shall be computed as of the date
of the death of the member and the amount of the annuity shall
remain constant during the period of payment. The annual amount of
the annuities payable by this section shall not exceed sixty percent
of the deceased member's final average salary.
(d) In the event any member or former member does not have ten
or more years of credited service, no preretirement death annuity
may be authorized, owed or awarded under this section
, except as
provided in subdivision (4), subsection (a), section fifteen of this
article as amended during the two thousand five regular session of
the Legislature.
Email
Webmaster | © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **
