§ 90 — Options

§ 90. Options. a. A member; or if he is an incompetent, his spouse or\nthe committee of his property; or if he is a conservatee, his spouse or\nthe conservator of his property, may elect to receive a Single Life\nAllowance (a retirement allowance without optional modification) or to\nreceive the actuarial equivalent of his retirement allowance at the time\nof his retirement, in the form of a smaller retirement allowance payable\nto him for life and one of the following optional settlements:\n Cash Refund-Contributions (Option One-half). If he dies before he has\nreceived annuity payments equal to the present value of his annuity, as\nit was at the time of his retirement, the balance thereof shall be paid\nto his estate or to a beneficiary designated as provided in this\nsection. In the event a designated beneficiary does not survive him, any\nbalance shall be payable to the estate of the deceased retired member or\nas provided in section one thousand three hundred ten of the surrogate's\ncourt procedure act. The beneficiary so designated may elect by written\ndesignation, duly executed and filed with the comptroller, to receive\nthe balance payable in the form of an annuity, the amount of which shall\nbe determined as the actuarial equivalent of such balance on the basis\nof regular interest and the age of such beneficiary at the time of the\nretiree's death, or in the alternative to receive the actuarial\nequivalent of such balance in the form of a reduced annuity payable for\nlife, with the further proviso that if he should die before the annuity\npayments received by him are equal to such actuarial equivalent, the\nbalance thereof shall be paid in a lump sum to his estate or to such\nperson as he shall have designated to receive same. In either case the\nelection shall be made within ninety days after the death of the\nretiree. The designation of the individual who is to receive such lump\nsum on the death of the beneficiary, may be changed by the beneficiary\nat any time. Such election, designation or change shall be made by a\nwriting, duly executed and filed with the comptroller. In the event a\ndesignated beneficiary has elected to receive a balance payable in the\nform of a reduced annuity, and the person designated by him to receive a\nlump sum payment does not survive him, such lump sum, if any, shall be\npayable to the estate of the designated beneficiary or as provided in\nsection one thousand three hundred ten of the surrogate's court\nprocedure act.\n Cash Refund-Initial Value (Option One). If he dies before he has\nreceived retirement allowance payments equal to the present value of his\nretirement allowance, as it was at the time of his retirement, the\nbalance thereof shall be paid to his estate or to the beneficiary so\ndesignated. In the event a designated beneficiary does not survive him,\nany balance shall be payable to the estate of the deceased retired\nmember or as provided in section one thousand three hundred ten of the\nsurrogate's court procedure act. The beneficiary so designated may elect\nby written designation, duly executed and filed with the comptroller, to\nreceive the balance payable in the form of an annuity, the amount of\nwhich shall be determined as the actuarial equivalent of such balance on\nthe basis of regular interest and the age of such beneficiary at the\ntime of the retiree's death, or in the alternative, to receive the\nactuarial equivalent of such balance in the form of a reduced annuity\npayable for life, with the further proviso that if he should die before\nthe annuity payments received by him are equal to such actuarial\nequivalent, the balance thereof shall be paid in a lump sum to his\nestate or to such person as he shall have designated to receive same. In\neither case the election shall be made within ninety days after the\ndeath of the retiree. The designation of the individual who is to\nreceive such lump sum on the death of the beneficiary, may be changed by\nthe beneficiary at any time. Such election, designation or change shall\nbe made by a writing, duly executed and filed with the comptroller. In\nthe event a designated beneficiary has elected to receive a balance\npayable in the form of a reduced annuity, and the person designated by\nhim to receive a lump sum payment does not survive him, such lump sum,\nif any, shall be payable to the estate of the designated beneficiary or\nas provided in section one thousand three hundred ten of the surrogate's\ncourt procedure act.\n Joint Allowance-Full (Option Two). Upon his death, a retirement\nallowance in an amount equal to that paid to him, shall be paid for life\nto the beneficiary so designated.\n Joint Allowance-Half (Option Three). Upon his death, a retirement\nallowance of one-half the amount paid to him shall be paid for life to\nthe beneficiary so designated.\n Actuarial Equivalent Allowance (Option Four). Such other optional\nbenefit or benefits as the comptroller shall approve and which shall be\nthe actuarial equivalent of his retirement allowance at the time of his\nretirement.\n aa. In the event that the monthly retirement allowance payable to a\nmember or a beneficiary shall amount to less than twenty-five dollars,\nthen and in such event, the member or beneficiary may elect, in lieu of\nsuch monthly retirement allowance, to receive the actuarial equivalent\nthereof in a lump sum.\n b. All elections under this section shall be made on blanks prepared\nby the comptroller for that purpose. Any such election may be made at\nany time before the first payment on account of any benefit becomes\nnormally due, except that in the case of retirement on account of\ndisability, such an election may be made within thirty days after\nmailing by the comptroller of notification of approval of retirement on\naccount of disability.\n An optional election shall not become effective if the member dies\nbefore the effective date of his retirement. Provided, however, if a\nmember who is otherwise eligible for disability retirement pursuant to\nthis chapter dies after the filing in the office of the comptroller of\nthe application for disability retirement and a valid option election\nform pursuant to this chapter and it is established that the physical or\nmental impairment or incapacitation of the applicant specified in such\napplication was directly related to the cause of the applicant's death,\nsuch application shall be approved by the comptroller effective one day\nbefore the date of the applicant's death. An election of an option may\nbe withdrawn or a new option may be chosen within the period provided in\nthis subdivision b for the making of such an election. Except as\nprovided in subdivision b of section seventy of this article, where an\noptional election does not become effective, retirement shall be without\noption.\n bb. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or of\nsection seventy of this article, the comptroller, for reasonable cause,\nshall have power to extend the time for the election of an option, for a\nperiod or periods which shall expire not later than sixty days\nimmediately after the effective date of a member's retirement.\n 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, but except\nwhere payment of accumulated contributions, an ordinary death benefit,\nor both, is or are required pursuant to subdivision dd of section\nfifty-one of this article or subdivision aa of section sixty of this\narticle, retirement shall be on the basis of "Option One-half" unless\nthe member files an effective election pursuant to this section to\nretire on a different basis. The provisions of this paragraph two shall\napply to cases where retirement shall become effective on or after May\nfirst, nineteen hundred fifty-four.\n c. A member, or person authorized by this section to make an election\nin his behalf, may designate his beneficiary under any of the options\nherein provided. Each such designation shall be:\n 1. Made in writing on a blank provided by the comptroller for such\npurpose, and\n 2. Ineffective until it is filed in the comptroller's office, and\n 3. Revocable to the extent that:\n (a) A new beneficiary under a "Cash Refund-Contributions" option\n(Option One-half), or "a Cash Refund-Initial Value" option (Option One)\nmay be designated at any time during the member's life.\n (b) A new beneficiary under any other option may be designated at any\ntime within the period provided for the making of an election pursuant\nto this section.\n d. In the event of the death of a retired member, the installment of\nhis retirement allowance, which would have become due and payable next\nfollowing his death, shall be pro-rated as of the date of his death. The\namount of such installment, as so pro-rated, shall be paid as follows:\n 1. If the member shall have:\n (a) Elected to receive an optional benefit pursuant to this section,\nand\n (b) Designated a beneficiary pursuant to this section, such amount\nshall be paid to such beneficiary, if such beneficiary survives him. In\nany other case such amount shall be paid to the retired member's estate\nor pursuant to section one thousand three hundred ten of the surrogate's\ncourt procedure act.\n 2. If the member shall not have elected to receive an optional\nbenefit, such amount shall be paid to the beneficiary designated by him\npursuant to subdivision d of section fifty-one of this article. In the\nevent the appropriately designated beneficiary does not survive such\nmember, or if he shall not have so designated a beneficiary, such amount\nshall be payable to the retired member's estate or pursuant to section\none thousand three hundred ten of the surrogate's court procedure act.\n e. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, an option\nselection previously filed by a member or retired member subject to the\nprovisions of this section may be changed no later than thirty days\nfollowing the date of payability of his or her retirement allowance. A\nretired member who has been retired for disability may change an option\nselection previously filed no later than (1) thirty days following the\ndate on which such member's application for disability retirement was\napproved by the retirement board or (2) thirty days following the date\non which such retiree was retired for disability, whichever is later.\n