§ 24-6-411 - Benefit provisions -- Death.
24-6-411. Benefit provisions -- Death.
(a) If an active member with five (5) or more years of actual service, including service for the year immediately preceding his or her death, dies in employer service before retirement, the applicable benefit provided in this section shall be paid upon written application to the Board of Trustees of the State Police Retirement System.
(b) (1) (A) In the event that a member dies and is not being paid on that date by his or her employer due solely to illness incurred before he or she left the payroll and the death occurs within one (1) year of the last payroll, the member shall be considered, for purposes of this section, to have died as an active member if all other necessary provisions of this section are met.
(B) For purposes of computing benefits provided by this section, the deceased member's salary at the time of death shall be his or her salary for the year immediately preceding the cessation of his or her pay.
(2) (A) If an active member with five (5) or more years of actual service does not have credited service for the year immediately preceding death due to illness which eventually leads to his or her death or due to his or her employer's removing the member from the payroll because of temporary economic conditions of the employer or weather conditions, the active member shall be considered, only for eligibility purposes of the section, to have credited service for the year preceding death.
(B) Benefits shall be paid according to the salary earned during the year preceding death.
(c) (1) The member's surviving spouse who was married to the member at least the one (1) year immediately preceding the member's death shall receive an annuity computed in the same manner in all respects as if the member had retired on the date of his or her death with entitlement to an annuity provided for in 24-6-406, elected the Option B75 survivor annuity provided for in 24-6-408, and nominated his or her spouse as joint beneficiary.
(2) (A) If the member has satisfied the age and service requirement provided for in 24-6-404 or had acquired twenty (20) years' actual service, then the spouse annuity shall commence immediately and be payable for his or her life.
(B) If the member had acquired fifteen (15) years' actual service, but had not attained age sixty-five (65), the spouse annuity shall commence at the later of either age fifty (50) or his or her age at his or her death and shall be payable until the earlier of his or her remarriage or death. Otherwise, the spouse annuity shall commence at the later of either age sixty-two (62) or his or her age at his or her death and shall be payable until the earlier of either his or her remarriage or death.
(3) The spouse annuity shall not be less than ten percent (10%) of the deceased member's covered compensation at the time of death.
(4) In any event, as long as the surviving spouse has in his or her care any of the deceased member's dependent children receiving a benefit provided for in this section, there shall be payable to him or her a spouse annuity which shall not be less than ten percent (10%) of the deceased member's compensation at the time of death.
(d) (1) The member's dependent child or dependent children shall each receive an annuity of the greater of either ten percent (10%) of the member's covered compensation at the time of death or an equal share of one hundred fifty dollars ($150) monthly.
(2) If there are three (3) or more dependent children, each dependent child shall receive as an annuity an equal share of the greater of either twenty-five percent (25%) of the member's covered compensation or one hundred fifty dollars ($150) monthly.
(3) (A) A child shall be a dependent child until his or her death, his or her marriage, or his or her attainment of age eighteen (18), whichever occurs first.
(B) (i) However, the age eighteen (18) maximum shall be extended as long as the child continues uninterruptedly being a full-time student at an accredited secondary school, college, or university but in no event beyond his or her attainment of age twenty-three (23).
(ii) The age eighteen (18) maximum shall also be extended for any child who has been deemed physically or mentally incompetent by an Arkansas court of competent jurisdiction or by the board for as long as the incompetency exists.
(4) Upon a child's ceasing to be a dependent child, his or her annuity shall terminate, and there shall be a redetermination of the amounts payable to any remaining dependent children.
(e) If at the time of the member's death there is neither a spouse nor a dependent child, each dependent parent shall receive an allowance of the greater of either ten percent (10%) of the member's covered compensation or an equal share of one hundred fifty dollars ($150) monthly, but only if the board finds that the parent was dependent for at least fifty percent (50%) of his or her financial support upon the member.
(f) (1) If no annuity can become payable to a dependent child due to the death of the member, and a surviving spouse or dependent parents are the only persons who will be eligible for monthly benefits and the spouse or dependent parents are also the designated beneficiaries of the member, then, in that event, the surviving spouse or dependent parent may elect to receive a refund of the member's accumulated contributions in lieu of any benefits which could become payable under this subchapter.
(2) The option to choose a refund of the member's contribution shall also be afforded to any spouse or dependent parent qualified under this section whose eligibility for the benefit occurred before the passage of this chapter and who could not exercise that option.
(3) Once the refund of the deceased member's accumulated contributions has been made to the surviving spouse or dependent parents under this subsection, the recipient shall have no future claim to monthly retirement benefits due to the death of the member.
(g) (1) In the event all the annuities provided for in this section payable on account of the death of a member terminate before there has been paid an aggregate amount equal to his or her accumulated contributions standing to his or her credit in the member's deposit account at the time of his or her death, the difference between the accumulated contributions and the aggregate amount of annuity payments shall be paid to such person as he or she shall have nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the board.
(2) If there is no designated person surviving a termination, the difference shall be paid to the member's estate.
(h) (1) In the case of a surviving spouse of a deceased member who had benefits terminated due to remarriage under the provisions of this section, the surviving spouse of the member shall be entitled to a reinstatement of benefits upon the death of any subsequent spouse.
(2) The benefits shall cease immediately upon the death or remarriage of the surviving spouse.
(i) (1) If the member is killed while in the official line of duty and the surviving spouse is eligible for a deferred benefit under this section, the surviving spouse may elect to receive a reduced benefit beginning immediately.
(2) The reduction of the benefit otherwise defined in this section shall be:
(A) Five-tenths of one percent (0.5%) per month for each of the first sixty (60) months that the benefit begins before it would have otherwise begun; plus
(B) Twenty-five hundredths of one percent (0.25%) per month for each month more than sixty (60) months that the benefit begins before it would have otherwise begun.
(3) However, the total reduction under this subsection shall not be more than fifty percent (50%).
(4) Those who otherwise would have been eligible for this benefit on or after July 1, 2002, may also elect this reduced benefit prospectively.