AN
ACT Relating to eligibility for survivor benefits; amending RCW 41.32.520 and
41.40.270; decodifying RCW 41.32.5305; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
41.32.520 and 1995 c 144 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
Except as specified in subsection (3) of this section, upon receipt of proper
proofs of death of any member before retirement or before the first installment
of his or her retirement allowance shall become due his or her accumulated
contributions, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon
withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under
RCW 41.50.670, and/or other benefits payable upon his or her death shall be
paid to his or her estate or to such persons, trust, or organization as he or
she shall have nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with
the department. If a member fails to file a new beneficiary designation
subsequent to marriage, divorce, or reestablishment of membership following termination
by withdrawal, lapsation, or retirement, payment of his or her accumulated
contributions, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon
withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under
RCW 41.50.670, and/or other benefits upon death before retirement shall be made
to the surviving spouse, if any; otherwise, to his or her estate. If a member
had established ten or more years of Washington membership service credit or
was eligible for retirement, the beneficiary or the surviving spouse if
otherwise eligible may elect, in lieu of a cash refund of the member's
accumulated contributions, the following survivor benefit plan actuarially
reduced by the amount of any lump sum benefit identified as owing to an obligee
upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed
under RCW 41.50.670:
(a)
A widow or widower, without a child or children under eighteen years of age,
may elect a monthly payment of fifty dollars to become effective at age fifty,
provided the member had fifteen or more years of Washington membership service
credit. A benefit paid under this subsection (1)(a) shall terminate at the
marriage of the beneficiary.
(b)
The beneficiary, if a surviving spouse or a dependent (as that term is used in
computing the dependent exemption for federal internal revenue purposes) may
elect to receive a joint and one hundred percent retirement allowance under RCW
41.32.530.
(i)
In the case of a dependent child the allowance shall continue until attainment
of majority or so long as the department judges that the circumstances which
created his or her dependent status continue to exist. In any case, if at the
time dependent status ceases, an amount equal to the amount of accumulated
contributions of the deceased member has not been paid to the beneficiary, the
remainder shall then be paid in a lump sum to the beneficiary.
(ii)
If at the time of death, the member was not then qualified for a service
retirement allowance, the benefit shall be based upon the actuarial equivalent
of the sum necessary to pay the accrued regular retirement allowance commencing
when the deceased member would have first qualified for a service retirement
allowance.
(2)
If no qualified beneficiary survives a member, at his or her death his or her
accumulated contributions, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee
upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed
under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid to his or her estate, or his or her dependents
may qualify for survivor benefits under benefit plan (1)(b) in lieu of a cash
refund of the members accumulated contributions in the following order: Widow
or widower, guardian of a dependent child or children under age eighteen, or
dependent parent or parents.
(3)
If a member ((who has received a determination of disability as specified in
RCW 41.32.550 and selected a retirement option under RCW 41.32.530(1)(b) dies
before the first retirement allowance installment becomes due, he or she shall
receive the benefit provided under the selected retirement option)) dies
within sixty days following application for disability retirement under RCW
41.32.550, the beneficiary named in the application may elect to receive the
benefit provided by:
(a)
This section; or
(b)
RCW 41.32.550, according to the option chosen under RCW 41.32.530 in the
disability application.
Sec.
2. RCW
41.40.270 and 1996 c 227 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
Except as specified in subsection (4) of this section, should a member
die before the date of retirement the amount of the accumulated contributions
standing to the member's credit in the employees' savings fund, less any amount
identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions
pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, at the time of death:
(a)
Shall be paid to the member's estate, or such person or persons, trust, or
organization as the member shall have nominated by written designation duly
executed and filed with the department; or
(b)
If there be no such designated person or persons still living at the time of
the member's death, or if a member fails to file a new beneficiary designation
subsequent to marriage, remarriage, dissolution of marriage, divorce, or
reestablishment of membership following termination by withdrawal or
retirement, such accumulated contributions, less any amount identified as owing
to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court
order filed under RCW 41.50.670, shall be paid to the surviving spouse as if in
fact such spouse had been nominated by written designation as aforesaid, or if
there be no such surviving spouse, then to the member's legal representatives.
(2)
Upon the death in service, or while on authorized leave of absence for a period
not to exceed one hundred and twenty days from the date of payroll separation,
of any member who is qualified but has not applied for a service retirement
allowance or has completed ten years of service at the time of death, the
designated beneficiary, or the surviving spouse as provided in subsection (1)
of this section, may elect to waive the payment provided by subsection (1) of
this section. Upon such an election, a joint and one hundred percent survivor
option under RCW 41.40.188, calculated under the retirement allowance described
in RCW 41.40.185 or 41.40.190, whichever is greater, actuarially reduced by the
amount of any lump sum benefit identified as owing to an obligee upon
withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under
RCW 41.50.670 shall automatically be given effect as if selected for the
benefit of the designated beneficiary. If the member is not then qualified for
a service retirement allowance, such benefit shall be based upon the actuarial
equivalent of the sum necessary to pay the accrued regular retirement allowance
commencing when the deceased member would have first qualified for a service
retirement allowance.
(3)
Subsection (1) of this section, unless elected, shall not apply to any member
who has applied for service retirement in RCW 41.40.180, as now or hereafter
amended, and thereafter dies between the date of separation from service and
the member's effective retirement date, where the member has selected a
survivorship option under RCW 41.40.188. In those cases the beneficiary named
in the member's final application for service retirement may elect to receive
either a cash refund, less any amount identified as owing to an obligee upon
withdrawal of accumulated contributions pursuant to a court order filed under
RCW 41.50.670, or monthly payments according to the option selected by the
member.
(4)
((For deaths occurring between July 1, 1995, and June 30, 1997, if a member
who: (a) Has applied for nonduty disability under RCW 41.40.230; (b) has
submitted adequate evidence to support a disability determination; and (c) has
selected a retirement under RCW 41.40.188, dies before receiving the first
retirement payment, the beneficiary named in the member's final application for
disability retirement may elect to receive either a cash refund, less any
amount identified as owing to an obligee upon withdrawal of accumulated
contributions pursuant to a court order filed under RCW 41.50.670, or monthly
payments according to the option selected by the member)) If a member
dies within sixty days following application for disability retirement under
RCW 41.40.230, the beneficiary named in the application may elect to receive
the benefit provided by:
(a)
This section; or
(b)
RCW 41.40.235, according to the option chosen under RCW 41.40.188 in the
disability application.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 3. RCW
41.32.5305 is decodified.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. This
act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or
safety, or support of the state government and its existing public
institutions, and takes effect immediately.
