§ 24-51-1737 — Eligible beneficiaries

Colorado § 24-51-1737

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 24: Government
• Art.: Public Employees' Retirement Association

Text

(1) Payments under sections 24-51-1736
to 24-51-1746 are limited to:

(a) (I) A child, including an adopted child, of the deceased member, so long
as the child is living, under the age of eighteen years, and unmarried; except that
where an eligible member dies on or after January 1, 1988, the definition of an
eligible child shall include:

(A) An unmarried child under the age of twenty-three years who is enrolled
on a full-time basis, within four months of the member's death, in a duly accredited
school; or

(B) An unmarried child, regardless of age, who is found to be so mentally or
physically incapacitated that such person is financially dependent upon the
member pursuant to the test of financial dependency established for a surviving
parent in paragraph (d) of this subsection (1).

(II) Adoptions involving an otherwise eligible child and occurring subsequent
to the death of the member shall terminate the eligibility of such a child, unless
such adoption is by the unremarried surviving spouse of the member, and in such a
case eligibility of the child shall be terminated by a subsequent remarriage of said
surviving spouse.

(b) The surviving widow or widower of the deceased member who has not
remarried and has in her or his care a child eligible to receive benefits as set forth in
paragraph (a) of this subsection (1). If benefits are payable under said paragraph (a)
or this paragraph (b), the DPS plan document shall govern any amounts due to any
unremarried widow or widower.

(c) The surviving widow or widower who has not remarried, if no benefits are
payable or if payable have ceased to any beneficiary qualified under paragraph (a)
or (b) of this subsection (1).

(d) A dependent parent of the deceased member who has not remarried
since such member's death, so long as such parent is living; except that said parent
shall be eligible only if there are no beneficiaries qualified under paragraph (a), (b),
or (c) of this subsection (1) at the time of the member's death. Dependence of a
surviving parent must be established by a showing to the association beyond
reasonable doubt that such parent was dependent upon the deceased member for
not less than one-half of the parent's support and actually received such support
from the deceased member during the six-month period prior to the death of such
member.

(2) Effective for surviving spouses of members who die on or after January 1,
1984, eligibility for beneficiaries as described in paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of
subsection (1) of this section will not be forfeited by remarriage.

(3) If at the time of the death of the member there is a supplemental needs
trust established before or within ninety days after the death of the member for the
benefit of the child eligible for survivor benefits, survivor benefits payable pursuant
to sections 24-51-1736 to 24-51-1746 to the beneficiary of the supplemental needs
trust are payable to the trust so long as that beneficiary is eligible for survivor
benefits. If a supplemental needs trust is determined to be invalid or terminates
after the association commences payment to the supplemental needs trust, the
survivor benefit, from then on, is paid to the beneficiary of the supplemental needs
trust so long as that beneficiary is eligible for survivor benefits.

Legislative History

Source: L. 2009: Entire part added, (SB 09-282), ch. 288, p. 1380, � 56, effective January 1, 2010. L. 2015: (3) added, (SB 15-097), ch. 111, p. 329, � 14, effective April 16.