§ 512 — Withdrawal and death benefits

§ 512. Withdrawal and death benefits. Benefits upon withdrawal and\ndeath shall be payable as follows:\n a. A member who withdraws from service or ceases to be a teacher for\nany cause other than death or retirement shall be paid on demand the\naccumulated contributions standing to the credit of his individual\naccount in the annuity savings fund. A member who has no accumulated\ncontributions credited to his individual account in the annuity savings\nfund and who ceases to be a teacher for any cause other than death or\nretirement may withdraw from membership in the system by filing a notice\nof withdrawal with the system pursuant to rules and regulations adopted\nby the retirement board.\n b. 1. Should a contributor die before retirement, his accumulated\ncontributions shall be paid to his estate or to such person as he shall\nhave nominated to receive such benefit. In the event such designated\nbeneficiary does not survive him, or if he shall not have so designated\na beneficiary, such benefit shall be payable to the deceased member's\nestate or as provided in section one hundred three-a of the decedent\nestate law. Such nomination must be by written designation duly executed\nand filed with the retirement board.\n 2. In addition to the return of accumulated contributions, a death\nbenefit also shall be payable upon the death of a member who dies before\nthe effective date of his retirement, and was in service upon which his\nmembership was based when he died or was on the payroll in such service\nand paid within a period of twelve months prior to his death and had not\nbeen otherwise gainfully employed since he ceased to be on such payroll\nor if, during the period that membership is valid, the retirement board\nshall determine to its satisfaction that said member was physically or\nmentally incapacitated for the performance of duty at the time he ceased\nto be on the payroll in such service and that he had been so\nincapacitated and had not been otherwise gainfully employed since he\nceased to be on such payroll; provided he had credit for one or more\nyears of service while actually a member. The amount of death benefit\nshall be computed by multiplying one twelfth of the compensation\nearnable by such member during his last twelve months of service while a\nmember by the number of years, not to exceed twelve, of his total credit\nfor service as a teacher in this state. Where the member has more than\ntwelve years of credited service as a teacher in this state and when his\ndeath occurs on or after July first, nineteen hundred sixty-one, and\nbefore July first, nineteen hundred seventy-four, there shall be added\nto such benefit one twenty-fourth of such compensation multiplied by the\nnumber of years in excess of twelve, but not to exceed twenty-four such\nyears, of his total credit for service as a teacher in the state. The\ndeath benefit shall be paid to such person as he shall have nominated to\nreceive such benefit. In the event such designated beneficiary does not\nsurvive him, or if he shall not have so designated a beneficiary, such\nbenefit shall be payable to the deceased member's estate or as provided\nin section one hundred three-a of the decedent estate law. Such\nnomination must be by written designation duly executed and filed with\nthe retirement board. The provisions of this paragraph two of\nsubdivision b of this section shall apply only to deaths occurring on\nand after July first, nineteen hundred fifty-nine.\n 3. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article or any rules\nor regulations adopted thereunder by the retirement board, the death\nbenefit payable pursuant to paragraph two of this subdivision, in the\ncase of a member who dies after having become eligible to apply and be\nretired for special service or superannuation pursuant to the provisions\nof this article, shall be increased by the amount, if any, that the\nactuarial equivalent of the pension portion of his retirement allowance,\ncomputed as if he had been retired on the day immediately preceding his\ndeath, and computed in accordance with the provisions of subdivision two\nof section five hundred ten and subdivision four of section five hundred\neleven-a of this article, exceeds the amount of the death benefit\notherwise payable pursuant to paragraph two of this subdivision. The\nprovisions of this paragraph three of subdivision b of this section\nshall apply only to deaths occurring after the date on which said\nparagraph three becomes operative and prior to July first, nineteen\nhundred seventy-four.\n 4. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the\nrequirement of one or more years of credited service, as set forth in\nparagraph two of this subdivision, shall be deemed to have been\nsatisfied by any member who has credit for three or more months of\nservice rendered since last becoming a member. The provisions of this\nparagraph shall apply only to deaths occurring after June thirtieth,\nnineteen hundred seventy and before July first, nineteen hundred\nseventy-five.\n 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the death\nbenefit payable pursuant to paragraph two of this subdivision shall be\nincreased by the excess, if any, of the greater of a or b over the sum\nof c and d, where a, b, c and d are as set forth hereunder:\n a. One-twelfth of the member's compensation multiplied by the number\nof years, not to exceed thirty-six, of his total credited state service.\n b. The lesser of three times the member's compensation or twenty\nthousand dollars.\n c. The death benefit which, in accordance with the provisions of\nparagraph two of this subdivision, is payable in addition to the return\nof accumulated contributions.\n d. The reserve for increased-take-home-pay.\n The term "compensation", as used in this subparagraph, shall mean (1)\nin the case of a member who has credit for one or more years of service\nrendered since last becoming a member, the compensation earned by such\nmember during his last twelve months of service, and (2) in the case of\na member who has credit for less than one year of service rendered since\nlast becoming a member, it shall mean his annual rate of compensation at\nthe time of his death. The provisions of this paragraph shall apply only\nto deaths occurring after June thirtieth, nineteen hundred seventy and\nbefore July first, nineteen hundred seventy-five. The additional death\nbenefits payable hereunder shall be construed as being payable under\nparagraph two of this subdivision for the purpose of computing benefits\npayable under paragraph three of this subdivision.\n c. The member or, within ninety days after his death, the person\nnominated by him to receive any benefit payable on his account, may file\nwith the retirement board a written designation, duly executed,\nproviding that such benefit shall be paid in the form of an annuity to\nthe person so nominated. Such annuity shall be determined as the\nactuarial equivalent of the benefit otherwise payable, on the basis of\nthe interest rate and the mortality tables adopted by the retirement\nboard for use in the calculations of such annuities. Such annuity shall\nbe payable throughout the life of the person so nominated, with no\npayments at his death unless the member or, within ninety days after his\ndeath, the person nominated by him to receive his benefit, shall elect\nto have the actuarial equivalent of such annuity paid in the form of a\nreduced annuity payable for life with the provision that if the person\nso nominated should die before the annuity payments received by him are\nequal to such actuarial equivalent, the balance thereof shall be paid in\na lump sum to such beneficiary's estate or to such person as such member\nor his nominee shall have designated. Such designation of a beneficiary\nto receive such benefit may be made or changed at any time by the person\nwho made it. Such election or change shall be made by written\ndesignation duly executed and filed with the retirement board.\nNotwithstanding the foregoing provisions, the retirement board reserves\nthe right to pay any benefit in the form of a lump sum payment if the\nannuity determined as the actuarial equivalent of the benefit otherwise\npayable is less than one hundred dollars per month.\n d. 1. The retirement board may adopt rules and regulations providing\nthat a trustee of an inter vivos or testamentary trust shall be eligible\nto be nominated to receive a lump sum benefit pursuant to subdivision b\nof this section.\n 2. Any proceeds received by a trustee under this section shall not be\nsubject to the debts of the member or to transfer or estate taxes to any\ngreater extent than if such proceeds were payable to the beneficiaries\nnamed in the trust and not to the estate of the member.\n 3. A payment made in good faith under this section to either a\ndesignated trustee of an inter vivos trust, a successor trustee of an\ninter vivos trust who provides a copy of his appointment or a trustee of\nsuccessor trustee of a testamentary trust who provides a copy of the\nletters of trusteeship shall be a complete discharge to the system to\nthe extent of the payment.\n 4. If no qualified trustee claims the proceeds within eighteen months\nafter the death of the member, or if satisfactory evidence is furnished\nwithin such period showing that there is or will be no trustee to\nreceive the proceeds, payment shall be made to the deceased member's\nestate.\n e. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a member with ten or\nmore years of credited service in such system who dies before a\nretirement benefit becomes payable and who is otherwise not entitled to\na death benefit from the retirement system shall be deemed to have died\non the last day that he or she was in service upon which his or her\nmembership was based for purposes of eligibility for the payment of a\ndeath benefit pursuant to the provisions of this section. The death\nbenefit payable in such case shall be one-half of that which would have\nbeen payable had such member died on the last day that service was\nrendered.\n f. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law to the contrary and\nsolely for the purpose of determining eligibility for the death benefit\npayable pursuant to this section, a person subject to this section shall\nbe considered to have died while in teaching service provided such\nperson was in such service at the time he or she was ordered to active\nduty pursuant to Title 10 of the United States Code, with the armed\nforces of the United States or to service in the uniformed services\npursuant to Chapter 43 of Title 38 of the United States Code and died\nwhile on such active duty or service in the uniformed services on or\nafter June fourteenth, two thousand five. Provided, further, that any\nsuch person ordered to active duty pursuant to Title 10 of the United\nStates Code, with the armed forces of the United States or to service in\nthe uniformed servicers pursuant to Chapter 43 of Title 38 of the United\nStates Code who died prior to rendering the minimum amount of service\nnecessary to be eligible for this benefit shall be considered to have\nsatisfied the minimum service requirement.\n g. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any\nmember of the retirement system subject to article fourteen or fifteen\nof the retirement and social security law who has permanently ceased\nteaching shall have the right to elect the return of his or her\naccumulated contributions and thereby terminate his or her membership in\nthe retirement system without regard to the amount of service to his or\nher credit, provided a public employee retirement system in another\nstate has certified in a manner satisfactory to the system that such\nmember is a member of such other retirement system, has at least five\nyears of retirement credit in such other system, and is eligible, upon\nthe termination of his or her membership in the system, to obtain\nretirement credit in such other retirement system for the service which\nhas been credited to his or her membership in the system. Upon refund of\nsuch accumulated contributions, any and all obligations of the\nretirement system to such member shall be totally discharged. The\nretirement board is authorized to adopt such rules and regulations as\nmay be necessary to implement this subdivision.\n