§ 135-63. Benefits on death before retirement.
§ 135‑63. Benefits ondeath before retirement.
(a) Upon receipt ofproof, satisfactory to the Board of Trustees, of the death of a member inservice, there shall be paid in a lump sum to such person as the member shallhave nominated by electronic submission prior to completing 10 years of servicein a form approved by the Board of Trustees or by written designation dulyacknowledged and filed with the Board of Trustees, if such person is living atthe time of the member's death, otherwise to the member's legalrepresentatives, a death benefit equal to the sum of (i) the member'saccumulated contributions, plus (ii) the member's final compensation; provided,however, that if the member has attained his fiftieth birthday with at leastfive years of membership service at his date of death, and if the designatedrecipient of the death benefits is the member's spouse who survives him, and ifthe spouse so elects, then the lump‑sum death benefit provided for hereinshall consist only of a payment equal to the member's final compensation andthere shall be paid to the surviving spouse an annual retirement allowance,payable monthly, which shall commence on the first day of the calendar monthcoinciding with or next following the death of the member and shall be continuedon the first day of each month thereafter until the remarriage or death of thespouse. The amount of any such retirement allowance shall be equal to one halfof the amount of the retirement allowance to which the member would have beenentitled had he retired under the provisions of G.S. 135‑57(a) on thefirst day of the calendar month coinciding with or next following his date ofdeath, reduced by two percent (2%) thereof for each full year, if any, by whichthe age of the member at his date of death exceeds that of his spouse. If theretirement allowance to the spouse shall terminate on the remarriage or deathof the spouse before the total of the retirement allowance payments made equalsthe amount of the member's accumulated contributions at date of death, theexcess of such accumulated contributions over the total of the retirementallowances paid to the spouse shall be paid in a lump sum to such person as themember shall have nominated by electronic submission in a form approved by theBoard of Trustees or by written designation duly acknowledged and filed withthe Board of Trustees, if such person is living at the time such payment fallsdue, otherwise to the former member's legal representatives.
(b) There shall be paidto the surviving unremarried spouse of any former judge who died in serviceprior to January 1, 1974, and after his forty‑ninth birthday an annualretirement allowance which shall commence on January 1, 1974, and shall becontinued on the first day of each month thereafter until the remarriage ordeath of the spouse. The amount of any such retirement allowance shall becomputed in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) above as if theprovisions of this Article had been in effect on the date of death of theformer judge, and the final compensation of such former judge had been equal tothe rate of annual compensation in effect on December 31, 1973, for the officeheld by the former judge at the time of his death.
(c) Upon receipt ofproof, satisfactory to the Board of Trustees, of the death of a member not inservice, there shall be paid in a lump sum to such person as the member shallhave nominated by electronic submission prior to completing 10 years of servicein a form approved by the Board of Trustees or by written designation dulyacknowledged and filed with the Board of Trustees, if such person is living atthe time of the member's death, otherwise to the member's legalrepresentatives, a death benefit equal to the member's accumulatedcontributions.
(d) Notwithstanding theprovisions of G.S. 7A‑376, there shall be paid to the surviving spouse ofany former judge whose death occurred prior to July 1, 1983, who had notwithdrawn his contributions pursuant to G.S. 135‑62, an annual retirementallowance which shall commence on July 1, 1983, and shall be continued on thefirst day of each month thereafter until the death or remarriage of the spouse.If the spouse dies or remarries before the total of the retirement allowancepaid equals the amount of the former judge's accumulated contributions, theexcess of the accumulated contributions over the total of the retirementallowance paid to the spouse shall be paid in a lump sum to the person thespouse has nominated by written designation duly acknowledged and filed with theBoard of Trustees, if the person is living at the time the payment falls due,otherwise to the spouse's legal representative. The amount of any suchretirement allowance shall be computed in accordance with the provisions ofsubsection (a) above. This subsection does not authorize allowances tosurviving spouses of former judges convicted of crimes related to theperformance of their judicial duties.
(e) For purposes ofthis subsection, a participant whose employment is interrupted by reason ofservice in the Uniformed Services, as that term is defined in section 4303(16)of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, Public Law103‑353, shall be deemed to be "in service" until the last dayof such service in the Uniformed Services. If the participant does not returnimmediately after that service to employment with a covered employer in thisSystem, then the participant shall be deemed "in service" until thedate on which the participant was first eligible to be separated or releasedfrom his or her involuntary military service. (1973, c. 640, s. 1; c. 1385; 1983, c. 761, ss. 231,234; 2009‑66, ss. 6(c), 11(a), (b).)