§ 5-723 — Accruement and payment of annuities; persons who may accept payment; waiver; reduction.

District of Columbia § 5-723

• Jurisdiction: District of Columbia
• Title 5: Police, Firefighters, Medical Examiner, and Forensic Sciences.
• Ch. 7: Police and Firefighters Retirement and Disability.
• Subch. I: Retirement and Disability, 1916.

Text

(a) Each annuity is stated as an annual amount, one-twelfth of which, fixed at the nearest dollar, accrues monthly (except that an annuity accrues over any portion of a month after the commencing date of such annuity but before the 1st day of the next month and is payable for such month, to include the month of death of the annuitant, in an amount prorated in a manner to be determined by the District of Columbia Retirement Board) and is payable on the 1st business day of the month after it accrues.

(b) Payment due a minor, or an individual mentally incompetent or under other legal disability, may be made to the person who is constituted guardian or other fiduciary by the law of the state of residence of the claimant or is otherwise legally vested with the care of the claimant or his estate. If a guardian or other fiduciary of the individual under legal disability has not been appointed under the law of the state of residence of the claimant, payment may be made to any person who, in the judgment of the District of Columbia Retirement Board, is responsible for the care of the claimant, and the payment bars recovery by any other person.

(c) Any person entitled to an annuity under this subchapter may decline to accept all or any part of such annuity by a waiver signed and filed with the District of Columbia Retirement Board. Such waiver may be revoked in writing at any time, but no payment of the annuity waived shall be made covering the period during which such waiver was in effect.

(d) In order to facilitate the settlement of the accounts of each person who, at the time of his death, was receiving or was entitled to receive an annuity under this subchapter, the District of Columbia Retirement Board shall pay all unpaid annuity due such person at the time of death to the person or persons surviving at the date of death, in the following order of precedence, and such payment shall be a bar to recovery by any other person of amounts so paid:

(1) To the widow or widower of such person;

(2) If there be no surviving spouse or domestic partner, to the child or children of such person, and descendants of deceased children, by representation;

(3) If there be none of the above, to the parents of such person or the survivor of them; or

(4) If there be none of the above, to the duly appointed legal representative of the estate of the deceased person, or if there be none, to the person or persons determined to be entitled thereto under the laws of the domicile of the deceased person.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the salary of any annuitant who first becomes entitled to an annuity under this subchapter, after November 17, 1979, and who is subsequently employed by the government of the District of Columbia shall be reduced by such amount as is necessary to provide that the sum of such annuitant’s annuity under this subchapter and compensation for such employment is equal to the salary otherwise payable for the position held by such annuitant. No salary subject to this reduction shall be reduced to less than any applicable minimum wage set forth in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, approved June 25, 1938 (52 Stat. 1060; 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.), or any other applicable federal minimum wage statute or regulation. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to an annuitant employed by the District of Columbia government under the Retired Police Officer Redeployment Amendment Act of 1992 or the Detective Adviser Act of 2004. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to an annuitant employed by the D.C. Public Schools under the Retired Police Officer Public Schools Security Personnel Deployment Amendment Act of 1994. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to an annuitant employed by the Department of Forensic Sciences under § 5-761(a-1) , or an annuitant employed by the Office of Unified Communications under § 5-761.01 .

Legislative History

Sept. 1, 1916, 39 Stat. 718, ch. 433, § 12(n); Aug. 21, 1957, 71 Stat. 398, Pub. L. 85-157, § 3; redesignated § 12(p) Nov. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 912, Pub. L. 96-122, §§ 211, 212, 214; Mar. 15, 1990, D.C. Law 8-95, § 3, 37 DCR 786; Sept. 29, 1992, D.C. Law 9-163, § 3, 39 DCR 5705; July 23, 1994, D.C. Law 10-136, § 4, 41 DCR 3006; Sept. 30, 2004, D.C. Law 15-194, § 1121, 51 DCR 9406; Apr. 13, 2005, D.C. Law 15-354, § 13(h), 52 DCR 2638; Mar. 21, 2009, D.C. Law 17-321, § 2(b), 56 DCR 222; Mar. 10, 2015, D.C. Law 20-198, § 4(c), 61 DCR 12450