Section 21500 Of Article 1. General Provisions From California Government Code >> Division 5. >> Title 2. >> Part 3. >> Chapter 14. >> Article 1.
21500
. (a) Whenever a person entitled to payment of a member's
accumulated contributions or any other benefit fails to claim the
payment or cannot be located or a warrant in payment is canceled
pursuant to Section 17070, the amount owed from the retirement fund
shall be administered in accordance with subdivision (c).
(b) Whenever the amount of a benefit payable by this system cannot
be determined because the recipient cannot be identified or
information necessary to determination of the benefit to be paid
cannot be ascertained, the accumulated contributions of the member on
whose account the benefit is payable shall be administered in
accordance with subdivision (c).
(c) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the
amounts described in subdivisions (a) and (b) shall be held, or if a
warrant has been drawn the warrant shall be redeposited in the
retirement fund and held for the claimant without further
accumulation of interest, and the redeposit shall not operate to
reinstate the membership of the person with respect to whose
membership the refund or benefit was payable in this system. If the
proceeds are not claimed within four years after the date of
redeposit, they shall revert to and become a part of the reserve
established pursuant to Section 20174. Transfer to this reserve shall
be made as of the June 30th next following the expiration of the
four-year period.
The board may at any time after transfer of proceeds to the
described reserve upon receipt of proper information satisfactory to
it, return the proceeds so held in reserve to the credit of the
claimant, to be administered in the manner provided under this
system.
(d) For lump-sum death benefits administered in accordance with
subdivision (c), where this system has made a diligent effort to
identify or locate the person entitled to payment and that person
cannot be found, payment may be made to the next entitled beneficiary
or beneficiaries, upon receipt of valid claims, if two years have
passed since the date of death. Payment made by this system in good
faith and in reliance on those claims, notwithstanding that it may
fail to discover a person otherwise entitled to share in the
benefits, shall constitute a complete discharge and release of this
system for further liability for the benefits.