§ 51 — Refunds and withdrawals

§ 51. Refunds and withdrawals. a. A member under age sixty may\nwithdraw his accumulated contributions if he has been separated from\nservice for a period of at least fifteen days.\n b. A member sixty years of age or over, may elect, not later than\nfifteen days after filing his application for retirement, or not later\nthan thirty days after his mandatory retirement has become effective by\noperation of law, to withdraw his accumulated contributions in lieu of a\nretirement allowance, provided that he\n 1. Has had less than five years of total service credit, or\n 2. Last became a member before April sixth, nineteen hundred\nforty-three, or\n 3. Is eligible for an annual retirement allowance which, without\noptional modification, amounts to less than three hundred dollars.\n c. The following contributions or additional contributions shall be\ntreated as excess contributions which, together with regular interest\nand special interest thereon, may be withdrawn by a member at any time\nprior to retirement, or if not so withdrawn, shall be used to purchase\nadditional annuity:\n 1. Contributions paid by a member in order to receive credit for\nservice in war after world war I, as defined in section two of this\narticle, not including, however, contributions required by subdivision k\nof section forty-one of this article.\n 2. Additional contributions paid by a member pursuant to section\neighty, eighty-nine-a or eighty-nine-b and where, as a result of a\nchange in his employment, such additional contributions would not\nprovide an additional pension allowance for service for which such\nadditional contributions were made.\n 3. Such other contributions to the annuity savings fund as may be\ndetermined by regulation of the comptroller to be excess and subject to\nsuch withdrawal.\n d. If a member dies before the effective date of his retirement, his\naccumulated contributions shall be paid to his estate or to the person\nnominated by him in a written designation duly executed and filed with\nthe comptroller. In the event such a designated beneficiary does not\nsurvive him, or if he shall not have so designated a beneficiary, such\ncontributions shall be payable to the deceased member's estate or as\nprovided in section one thousand three hundred ten of the surrogate's\ncourt procedure act. Such member, or after his death, the person so\nnominated by him may file with the comptroller a written designation,\nduly executed providing that such contributions shall be paid in the\nform of an annuity to such person so nominated. Such designation shall\nbe filed prior to or within ninety days after the death of the member.\nThe amount of such annuity shall be determined as the actuarial\nequivalent of such accumulated contributions on the basis of regular\ninterest and the age of the person so nominated as of the date of such\nmember's death.\n dd. Notwithstanding the provisions of section ninety of this article,\naccumulated contributions shall be payable in the manner provided by\nsubdivision d or e of this section in the case of a retired member who\nshall die before attaining age seventy where:\n 1. His application for retirement became effective prior to his death,\nand\n 2. No optional election by him was in effect at the time of his death,\nor he had made and filed a valid election to receive his retirement\nallowance without optional modification, and\n 3. He died within the period of thirty days immediately after his\nretirement became effective.\nThe amount of the accumulated contributions so payable under this\nsubdivision shall be reduced by the amount of any annuity payment that\nmay have been paid on account of such retirement.\n The provisions of this subdivision shall apply in any case where death\noccurred on or after January first, nineteen hundred fifty-four.\n e. A member, or after his death, the person nominated by him to\nreceive his accumulated contributions, may elect to receive the\nactuarial equivalent of the annuity specified in subdivision d of this\nsection in the form of a reduced annuity, payable for life, with the\nfurther proviso that if the person so nominated should die before the\nannuity payments received by him are equal to such actuarial equivalent,\nthe balance thereof shall be paid in a lump sum to such beneficiary's\nestate or to such person as such member or his nominee shall have\ndesignated prior to his death. Such election shall be made prior to or\nwithin ninety days after the death of the member. Such designation of a\nbeneficiary to receive such lump sum may be made or changed at any time\nby the person who made it. Such election, designation or change shall be\nmade by a writing duly executed and filed with the comptroller. If the\nperson nominated to receive such lump sum does not survive the member's\nbeneficiary, such lump sum, if any, shall be payable to the estate of\nthe member's beneficiary or as provided in section one thousand three\nhundred ten of the surrogate's court procedure act.\n