ENGROSSED
Senate Bill No. 559
(By Senators Minear, Unger and Plymale)
____________
[Introduced March 22, 2001; referred to the Committee on
Pensions; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-seven, article ten,
chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to preretirement
death benefits under the West Virginia public employees
retirement system; clarifying that a lump sum refund amount
may be paid as a preretirement death benefit in lieu of an
annuity; clarifying that no annuity benefit is due if the
member has fewer than ten years of service; and providing that
a married member who has at least ten years of service is
allowed to name a beneficiary other than a spouse to receive
preretirement death benefits if a valid waiver is presented to the retirement board.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-seven, article ten, chapter five of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ACT.
§5-10-27. Preretirement death annuities.
(a) In the event any member who has ten or more years of
credited service or any former member with ten or more years of
credited service and who is entitled to a deferred annuity,
pursuant to section twenty-one of this article, may at any time
prior to the effective date of his
or her
retirement, by written
declaration duly executed and filed with the board of trustees, in
the same manner as if he
or she
were then retiring from the employ
of a participating public employer, elect option A provided for in
section twenty-four of this article and nominate a beneficiary whom
the board finds to have had an insurable interest in the life of
said the member. Prior to the effective date of his
or her
retirement, a member may revoke his
or her
said election of option
A and nomination of beneficiary and he
or she may again prior to
his or her retirement elect the said option A and nominate a
beneficiary as provided in this subsection. Upon the death of a member who has an option A election in force, his or her
beneficiary, if living, shall immediately receive an annuity
computed in the same manner in all respects as if the same member
had retired the day preceding the date of his or her death,
notwithstanding that he or she might not have attained age sixty
years, and elected the said option A. If at the time of his or her
retirement a member has an option A election in force, his or her
said election of option A and nomination of beneficiary shall
thereafter continue in force. As an alternative to annuity option
A, a member or former member may elect to have the preretirement
death benefit paid as a return of accumulated contributions in a
lump sum amount to any beneficiary or beneficiaries he or she
chooses.
(b) In the event any member who has ten or more years of
credited service, or any former member with ten or more years of
credited service and who is entitled to a deferred annuity,
pursuant to section twenty-one of this article: (1) Dies; and (2)
leaves a widow, or in the case of a female member leaves a widower
surviving spouse, the said widow or widower, as the case may be,
surviving spouse shall immediately receive an annuity computed in
the same manner in all respects as if the said member had: (1) Retired the day preceding the date of his or her death,
notwithstanding that he or she might not have attained age sixty or
sixty-two years, as the case may be; (2) elected option A provided
for in section twenty-four of this article; and (3) nominated his
or her said widow or widower, as the case may be, surviving spouse
as beneficiary. However, the surviving spouse shall have the right
to waive the annuity provided for in this section: Provided, That
he or she executes a valid and notarized waiver on a form provided
by the retirement board and that the member or former member
attests to the waiver. If the waiver is presented to and accepted
by the retirement board, the member or former member shall nominate
a beneficiary who has an insurable interest in the member's or
former member's life. As an alternative to annuity option A, the
member or former member may elect to have the preretirement death
benefit paid as a return of accumulated contributions in a lump sum
amount to any beneficiary or beneficiaries he or she chooses in the
event a waiver, as provided for in this section, has been presented
to and accepted by the retirement board.
(c) In the event any member who has ten or more years of
credited service or any former member with ten or more years of
credited service and who is entitled to a deferred annuity, pursuant to section twenty-one of this article: (1) Dies without
leaving surviving him or her a spouse; but (2) leaves surviving him
or her an infant child or children; and (3) does not have a
beneficiary nominated as provided in subsection (a) of this
section, said the infant child or children shall be entitled to an
annuity to be calculated as follows: The annuity reserve shall be
calculated as though said the member had retired as of the date of
his or her decease and elected a straight life annuity and the
amount of said the annuity reserve shall be paid in equal monthly
installments to said the member's infant child or children until
said the child or children attain age twenty-one or sooner marry or
become emancipated; however, in no event shall any child or
children receive more than two hundred fifty dollars per month
each. The said annuity payments shall be computed as of the date
of the death of the said member and the amount of said the annuity
shall remain constant during the period of payment. The annual
amount of the annuities payable by this section shall not exceed
sixty percent of said the deceased member's final average salary.
(d) In the event any member or former member does not have ten
or more years of credited service, no preretirement death annuity
may be authorized, owed or awarded under this section.