§ 42-28-21 - Injury and death benefits.
SECTION 42-28-21
§ 42-28-21 Injury and death benefits.– (a) If any member of the division whose service is terminated on or afterJanuary 1, 1960 shall have in the course of performance of his or her dutiessuffered injury causing disability or causing death, that member or his or hersurviving dependent relatives, whose dependence shall be determined from timeto time by the superintendent subject to confirmation by the governor, shall beentitled to an annual pension of seventy-five percent (75%) of the annualsalary paid to that member at the time of his or her termination of service byreason of injury or death. In the event that the member thus disabled or killedin the performance of his or her official duties is the superintendent, thenconfirmation and determination provided by this section shall be made by thegovernor. The provisions of chapters 29 – 38, inclusive, of title 28,shall not apply to members of the division.
(b) Upon the death of a member due to any cause other thanthat incurred while in the course of performance of his or her duties,occurring while in service or after retirement, if that member shall haverendered at least ten (10) years of service as a member of the Rhode Islandstate police, his or her surviving widow or domestic partner shall be entitledto a pension equal to two percent (2%) of his or her last annual salary asdetermined by the provision of § 42-28-22 as amended herein for each yearof service as a member of the state police, subject to a minimum pension oftwenty-five percent (25%) of salary, and subject to the following conditions:
(1) The widow or widower or domestic partner shall have beenmarried to or a domestic partner of the member at least one year on the date ofdeath of the member or on the date of retirement, whichever first occurs, andin any event while the member was in active service; (2) the widow shall be atleast forty (40) years of age, otherwise payment of the annuity shall bedeferred until she attains such age; (3) the annuity shall terminate in anyevent when he or she remarries or enters into a domestic partnership or dies.
(c) If a widow or widower or domestic partner shall haveminor children in his or her care, payment of the annuity shall commenceimmediately regardless of whether the widow or widower or domestic partnershall have attained age forty (40) years or not. In such a case, the payment tothe widow or widower or domestic partner shall be increased one-third (1/3) onaccount of each minor child, provided that the maximum payment shall be fiftypercent (50%) of annual salary.
(d) Allowances on account of minor children shall terminateupon their attainment of age eighteen (18) and if unemancipated and a full-timestudent to age twenty-two (22) years, death, or marriage, whichever firstoccurs. In the event a widow or widower or domestic partner remarries or entersinto a domestic partnership or dies, payment on account of minor children shallbe increased to twice the amounts previously payable on account of thechildren, subject to a combined payment to all children equal to fifty percent(50%) of the final salary of the member.
(e) For purposes of this chapter, "domestic partner" shall bedefined as a person who, prior to the decedent's death, was in an exclusive,intimate and committed relationship with the decedent, and who certifies byaffidavit that their relationship met the following qualifications:
(1) Both partners were at least eighteen (18) years of ageand were mentally competent to contract;
(2) Neither partner was married to anyone else;
(3) Partners were not related by blood to a degree whichwould prohibit marriage in the state of Rhode Island;
(4) Partners resided together and had resided together for atleast one year at the time of death; and
(5) Partners were financially interdependent as evidenced byat least two (2) of the following:
(i) Domestic partnership agreement or relationship contract;
(ii) Joint mortgage or joint ownership of primary residence;
(iii) Two (2) of: (A) joint ownership of motor vehicle; (B)joint checking account; (C) joint credit account; (D) joint lease; and/or
(iv) The domestic partner had been designated as abeneficiary for the decedent's will, retirement contract or life insurance.