104.140. Death prior to retirement, benefits.
Death prior to retirement, benefits.
104.140. 1. (1) If a member who has five or more years ofcreditable service dies before retirement, the member's surviving spouse,to whom the member was married on the date of the member's death, if any,shall receive the reduced survivorship benefits provided in option 1 ofsubsection 3 of section 104.090 calculated as if the member were of normalretirement age and had retired as of the date of the member's death and hadelected option 1;
(2) If there is no eligible surviving spouse, or when a spouse'sannuity has ceased to be payable, the member's eligible surviving childrenunder twenty-one years of age shall receive monthly, in equal shares, anamount equal to eighty percent of the member's accrued annuity calculatedas if the member were of normal retirement age and retired as of the dateof death. Benefits otherwise payable to a child under eighteen years ofage shall be payable to the surviving parent as natural guardian of suchchild if such parent has custody or assumes custody of such minor child, orto the legal guardian of such child, until such child attains age eighteen,and thereafter, the benefit may be paid to the child until age twenty-one;provided, the age twenty-one maximum shall be extended for any child whohas been found totally incapacitated by a court of competent jurisdiction;
(3) No benefit is payable pursuant to this section if no eligiblesurviving spouse or children under twenty-one years of age survive themember. Benefits cease pursuant to this section when there is no eligiblesurviving beneficiary through either death of the eligible surviving spouseor through either death or the attainment of twenty-one years of age by theeligible surviving children. If the member's surviving children arereceiving equal shares of the benefit described in subdivision (2) of thissubsection, and one or more of such children become ineligible by reason ofdeath or the attainment of twenty-one years of age, the benefit shall bereallocated so that the remaining eligible children receive equal shares ofthe total benefit as described in subdivision (2) of this subsection.
2. Effective January 1, 1985, if an employee who has three or more,but less than five years of creditable service dies before retirement, thesurviving spouse of the deceased employee, if married to the deceasedemployee on the date of the employee's death, or the deceased employee'ssurviving eligible children under the age of twenty-one, shall receive atotal monthly payment equal to twenty-five percent of the deceasedemployee's accrued monthly benefit calculated as if the employee were ofnormal retirement age as of the date of death. If the surviving spousedies leaving any eligible children under the age of twenty-one years, thepayment shall continue until the children reach twenty-one years of age.If there is no surviving spouse eligible for benefits under thissubsection, but there are any children of the deceased employee eligiblefor payments, the payments shall continue until the children reachtwenty-one years of age. Any benefits payable to eligible children undertwenty-one years of age shall be made on a pro rata basis among thesurviving children under twenty-one years of age.
3. For the purpose of computing the amount of a benefit payablepursuant to this section, if the board finds that the death was a naturaland proximate result of a personal injury or disease arising out of and inthe course of the member's actual performance of duty as an employee, thenthe minimum benefit to such member's surviving spouse or, if no survivingspouse benefits are payable, the minimum benefit that shall be dividedamong and paid to such member's surviving eligible children under the ageof twenty-one shall be fifty percent of the member's final averagecompensation. The service requirements of subsections 1 and 2 of thissection shall not apply to any benefit payable pursuant to this subsection.
(L. 1955 p. 718 § 23, A.L. 1969 p. 174, A.L. 1972 S.B. 650, A.L. 1976 H.B. 1211, A.L. 1982 H.B. 1720, et al., A.L. 1984 H.B. 1370, A.L. 1985 H.B. 790, A.L. 1988 H.B. 1643 & 1399, A.L. 2000 H.B. 1808, A.L. 2002 H.B. 1455)Effective 7-11-02