§ 657 — Survivor's benefit for retired state employees

§ 657. Survivor's benefit for retired state employees. 1. a. The term\n"retired state employee" as used in this section shall mean a former\nemployee or officer of the state (1) who while in state service retired\nfor any cause from any retirement system or pension plan supported by\nfunds of the state other than the state university optional retirement\nprogram of article eight-B of the education law or the education\ndepartment optional retirement program of article three, part V, of the\neducation law, or (2) who while in state service retired for any cause\nfrom either or both such optional retirement programs provided he or she\nhad thereupon attained age fifty-five, or (3) who terminated state\nservice for any cause on or after the attainment of age sixty-two; and\nwho, at the time he or she retired pursuant to subparagraph one or two\nof this paragraph or terminated service pursuant to subparagraph three\nof this paragraph, had ten or more years of full time service as a state\nemployee, provided that the ten years' full time service were within the\nlast fifteen years prior to such retirement or termination. For purposes\nof this section, no person shall be deemed to be or have been an\nemployee or officer of the state or in the state service for any period\nduring which his or her salary was not paid directly by the state,\nexcept a person employed in an institution specified in paragraph b of\nthis subdivision or a person employed in an authority or commission\nspecified in paragraph c of this subdivision.\n b. For all purposes of this section alone, the state colleges of\nagriculture, home economics, industrial and labor relations, and\nveterinary medicine, the state agricultural experiment station at\nGeneva, and any other institution or agency under the management and\ncontrol of Cornell university, as the representative of the board of\ntrustees of the state university of New York, and the state college of\nceramics under the management and control of Alfred university, as the\nrepresentative of the board of trustees of the state university of New\nYork shall be deemed to be the state.\n c. For the purpose of determining eligibility for benefits under this\nsection, previous service rendered as an employee of an authority or\ncommission established under the public authorities law shall be\ncredited to a retired state employee as state service, provided such\nauthority or commission has in effect, at the time of retirement of such\nretired employee, a provision for a survivor's benefit which is\nsubstantially equivalent to that provided in this section and in which\nprevious state service is credited to retired authority or retired\ncommission employees toward eligibility for such survivor's benefit.\n d. For the purpose of determining eligibility for benefits under this\nsection, no retired state employee who retired prior to October first,\nnineteen hundred sixty-six shall be eligible for benefits hereunder\nunless such retiree is a pensioner of the New York state and local\nemployees' retirement system or the New York state and local police and\nfire retirement system.\n 2. The amount of a survivor's benefit under this section shall be a\nlump sum of two thousand dollars, except that where a retired state\nemployee dies while reemployed as provided in subdivision four of this\nsection or dies within thirty days following retirement pursuant to\nsubdivision one of this section, the amount of the survivor's benefit\nunder this section, if any, shall be two thousand dollars less any\nordinary death benefit, exclusive of any ordinary death benefit\nattributable to the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, payable on\naccount of the death of such employee under a retirement system or\npension plan supported by funds of the state.\n 3. In addition to the benefit provided pursuant to subdivision two of\nthis section an additional benefit shall be provided on behalf of\nretired state employees who retire or terminate their services, as\ndefined by subdivision one of this section, on or after April first,\nnineteen hundred seventy, except, however, such additional benefits\nshall be provided on behalf of retired state employees who were members\nof the state police in a collective negotiating unit consisting of\ncommissioned officers established pursuant to article fourteen of the\ncivil service law who retire or terminate their services, as defined by\nsubdivision one of this section, on or after April first, nineteen\nhundred seventy-one, and on behalf of retired state employees who were\nmembers of the state police in a collective negotiating unit defined in\nthe certification of the public employment relations board dated\nDecember twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred seventy in case numbers C-0570\nand C-0575 established pursuant to article fourteen of the civil service\nlaw who retire or terminate their services, as defined by subdivision\none of this section, on or after April first, nineteen hundred\nseventy-two, of one thousand dollars, except that where such retired\nstate employee dies while reemployed as provided in subdivision five of\nthis section or dies within thirty days following retirement pursuant to\nsubdivision one of this section, the amount of the survivor's benefit\nunder this section, if any, shall be three thousand dollars less any\nordinary death benefit, exclusive of any ordinary death benefit\nattributable to the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, payable on\naccount of the death of such employee under a retirement system or\npension plan supported by funds of the state in lieu of the survivor's\nbenefits specified in subdivision two of this section.\n 4. A survivor's benefit under this section shall not be payable in any\ncase in which a survivor's benefit is payable pursuant to section six\nhundred fifty-five of this chapter.\n 5. The eligibility for survivor's benefit protection provided by this\nsection of a retired state employee who subsequently reenters state\nservice, or enters the service of a participating employer of a\nretirement system or pension plan supported by funds of the state, shall\ncontinue but only until such employee attains eligibility either for\ncoverage under the survivor's benefit program provided by section six\nhundred fifty-five of this article or for payment of an ordinary death\nbenefit of two thousand dollars or more, exclusive of any ordinary death\nbenefit attributable to the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, payable\non account of the death of such employee under such a retirement system\nor pension plan. Each time such employee leaves state service, or the\nservice of such a participating employer, and loses the eligibility\nattained following such entry or reentry, such employee shall again\nbecome eligible for payment of a survivor's benefit provided by this\nsection.\n 6. The survivor's benefit payable under this section shall be paid to\nsuch person or persons as the retired state employee shall have last\nnominated to receive benefits under a retirement option of the\nretirement system or pension plan supported by funds of the state of\nwhich such employee last became a member, or if such employee did not\nnominate such a beneficiary, or if such beneficiary has died, or if the\nemployee was not a member of such a retirement system or pension plan,\nto the person last specifically designated by such employee to receive\nthe survivor's benefit under this section on a form prescribed by and\nfiled with the state comptroller. In the event such a designated\nbeneficiary does not survive such employee, or if a beneficiary was not\ndesignated, the survivor's benefit shall be payable to the estate of the\nretired state employee or as provided in section thirteen hundred ten of\nthe surrogate's court procedure act.\n 7. The survivor's benefit fund provided for by subdivision seven of\nsection six hundred fifty-five of this article shall be the fund from\nwhich survivor's benefit payments pursuant to this section shall be\npaid.\n 8. The state comptroller shall prescribe such regulations as may be\nrequired for the effective administration and implementation of the\nprovisions of this section including the establishment of criteria for\ndetermining eligibility for payment under this section. The state\ncomptroller may enter into agreement with other agencies to perform such\nduties as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this section.\n 9. a. Every state department or agency shall promptly inform the state\ncomptroller of the retirement or termination, as defined by subdivision\none of this section, of any employee on whose behalf a survivor's\nbenefit under this section may be payable. Such employer shall set forth\nthe relevant state employment record of the employee and such other\ninformation as is required by the form to be prescribed by the state\ncomptroller.\n b. Every public retirement system or pension plan within the state\nshall promptly inform the state comptroller of the death of any member\non whose behalf a survivor's benefit under this section may be payable.\nSuch system or plan shall set forth the name or names of the beneficiary\nor beneficiaries, if any, last designated by the member under any\nretirement option selected and such other information as is required by\nthe form to be prescribed by the state comptroller.\n 10. A designated beneficiary of every retired state employee who filed\na designation of beneficiary form with the state comptroller must file\nan application with the state comptroller for a survivor's benefit under\nthis section within six months after the death of such employee in order\nto qualify for the survivor's benefit provided by this section. For good\ncause shown, the state comptroller may waive this time requirement.\n 11. The provisions of this section shall apply to retired state\nemployees who retire or terminate their service, as defined by\nsubdivision one of this section, on or before June thirtieth, nineteen\nhundred seventy-four, provided, however, that nothing herein shall be\ndeemed to apply to any employee who retired on or before September\nthirtieth, nineteen hundred sixty-six and who died prior to the\neffective date of this subdivision.\n