County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 (CERL) - sdcera

§31764.6. (Operative date contingent) Right to elect reduction and designate spouse for
surviving allowance
(a) Notwithstanding Sections 31481 and 31760, optional settlement 5 consists of a retired
member’s right to elect in writing to have his or her retirement allowance reduced and to
designate his or her spouse who is not otherwise eligible to receive a survivor allowance. The
survivor allowance shall be determined on an actuarial basis by the reduction in the member’s
allowance and may not, in the opinion of the board and the actuary, place any additional
financial burden on the retirement system.
(b) A member who elected to receive an optional settlement under Section 31762,
31763, or 31764, involving a life contingency of a beneficiary, may elect optional settlement 5
if the beneficiary predeceases the member or, if a former spouse was named, in the event of a
dissolution or annulment of the marriage or a legal separation in which the judgment dividing
the community property awards the total interest in the retirement system to the retired
member.
(c) A member who married at least 12 months prior to the date this section becomes
operative may file an election with the board of retirement within 60 days after the operative
date. The election shall become effective the first day of the month following receipt of the
election by the board. A member who fails to elect within that 60-day period shall retain
the right to make an election under this section subject to the waiting period provided in
subdivision (d).
(d) Except as provided in subdivision (c), the election under this section shall become
effective 12 months after the date it is filed with the board, provided that neither the member
nor his or her spouse dies prior to the effective date of the election.
(e) An election under this section is irrevocable.
(f) This section may not become operative until the board of supervisors elects, by
resolution adopted by a majority vote, to make this section operative in the county.
(Added by Stats. 2004, Ch. 441 (A.B. 979), Sec. 5)
§31764.7. (Operative date contingent) Adjustment if spouse predeceases member after
electing reduction to provide spousal benefit
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, if a retired member elects to
have his or her retirement allowance reduced pursuant to Section 31764.6 and if, thereafter, the
member’s spouse predeceases the member, the member’s allowance shall be adjusted to the
amount he or she received at retirement, adjusted by any cost-of-living increases that were or
would have been added to the monthly allowance. The adjusted allowance shall be effective
on the first day of the month following the month in which notification of the spouse’s or
beneficiary’s death is received by the board.
(b) This section may not become operative if, in the opinion of the retirement board
and the actuary, the allowances payable under this section would place an additional financial
burden on the retirement system.
(c) This section may not become operative until the board of supervisors elects, by
resolution adopted by a majority vote, to make this section operative in the county.
(Added by Stats. 2004, Ch. 441 (A.B. 979), Sec. 6)
§31765. Election of retirement allowance by surviving spouse of member eligible to retire;
rights of surviving children; minor children
Upon the death of a member who was eligible to retire, in circumstances in which a
death benefit is payable under Article 12, if the deceased member has designated as beneficiary
his spouse who survives him by not less than 30 days, such surviving spouse may elect, at
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Article 11, §31764.6. - §31765.