21573
. (a) In lieu of benefits provided in Section 21571 or Section
21572, if the death benefit provided by Section 21532 is payable on
account of a state member's death that occurs under circumstances
other than those described in subparagraph (F) of paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a) of Section 21530, or if an allowance under Section
21546 is payable, the payment pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be
made in the following order of priority:
(1) The surviving wife or surviving husband of the member who has
the care of unmarried children, including stepchildren, of the member
who are under 22 years of age or are incapacitated because of a
disability that began before and has continued without interruption
after attainment of that age.
(2) The guardian of surviving unmarried children, including
stepchildren, of the member who are under 22 years of age or are so
incapacitated.
(3) The surviving wife or surviving husband of the member who does
not qualify under paragraph (1).
(4) Each surviving parent of the member.
(b) Regardless of the benefit provided by Section 21532 and of the
beneficiary designated by the member under that section, or
regardless of the allowance provided under Section 21546, the
following applicable 1959 survivor allowance, under the conditions
stated and from contributions of the state, shall be paid:
(1) A surviving spouse who was either continuously married to the
member for at least one year prior to death, or who was married to
the member prior to the occurrence of the injury or onset of the
illness that resulted in death, and has the care of unmarried
children, including stepchildren, of the deceased member who are
under 22 years of age or are so incapacitated, shall be paid seven
hundred dollars ($700) per month if there is one child, or eight
hundred forty dollars ($840) per month if there are two or more
children. If there also are children who are not in the care of the
surviving spouse, the portion of the allowance payable under this
paragraph, assuming that these children were in the care of the
surviving spouse, that is in excess of three hundred fifty dollars
($350) per month, shall be divided equally among all those children
and payments made to the spouse and other children, as the case may
be.
(2) If there is no surviving spouse, or if the surviving spouse
dies, and if there are unmarried children, including stepchildren, of
the deceased member who are under 22 years of age or are so
incapacitated, or if there are children not in the care of the
spouse, the children shall be paid an allowance as follows:
(A) If there is only one child, the child shall be paid three
hundred fifty dollars ($350) per month.
(B) If there are two children, the children shall be paid seven
hundred dollars ($700) per month divided equally between them.
(C) If there are three or more children, the children shall be
paid eight hundred forty dollars ($840) per month divided equally
among them.
(3) A surviving spouse who has attained or attains the age of 62
years, and, with respect to that surviving spouse, who was either
continuously married to the member for at least one year prior to
death, or who was married to the member prior to the occurrence of
the injury or onset of the illness that resulted in death, shall be
paid three hundred fifty dollars ($350) per month. No allowance shall
be paid under this paragraph while the surviving spouse is receiving
an allowance under paragraph (1) or while an allowance is being paid
under subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2). The allowance paid under
this paragraph shall be one hundred forty dollars ($140) per month
while an allowance is being paid under subparagraph (B) of paragraph
(2).
(4) If there is no surviving spouse or surviving child who
qualifies for the 1959 survivor allowance, or if the surviving spouse
dies and there is no surviving child, or if the surviving spouse
dies and the children die or marry or, if not incapacitated, reach 22
years of age, each of the member's dependent parents who has
attained or attains the age of 62 years, and who received at least
one-half of his or her support from the member at the time of the
member's death, shall be paid three hundred fifty dollars ($350) per
month.
(c) "Stepchildren," for purposes of this section, shall include
only stepchildren of the member living with the member in a regular
parent-child relationship at the time of the death of the member.
(d) This section shall apply to beneficiaries of state members
whose death occurred before January 1, 1985. Where a surviving spouse
attained the age of 62 years prior to January 1, 1987, entitlement
shall exist retroactive to January 1, 1985, or to his or her 62nd
birthday, whichever is later. All assets and liabilities of all state
agencies and their employees on account of benefits provided to
beneficiaries specified in this subdivision shall be pooled into a
single account. The board shall transfer from the reserve for 1959
survivor contributions retained in the retirement fund an amount
sufficient to pay the cost of the increased benefits provided by this
subdivision for beneficiaries of members who died on or before
December 31, 1984.
(e) This section shall not apply to beneficiaries with respect to
the death of a state member, except as provided in subdivision (i),
occurring on or after January 1, 1985, unless provided for in a
memorandum of understanding reached pursuant to Section 3517.5, or
authorized by the Director of Personnel Administration for
classifications of state employees that are excluded from, or not
subject to, collective bargaining. The memorandum of understanding
adopting this section shall be controlling without further
legislative action, except that if those provisions of a memorandum
of understanding require the expenditure of funds, those provisions
shall not become effective unless approved by the Legislature as
provided by law.
(f) This section shall apply, with respect to benefits payable on
and after January 1, 1985, to school members and to school safety
members, as defined in Section 20444. All assets and liabilities of
all school employers, and their employees, on account of benefits
provided under this article shall be pooled into a single account,
and a single employer rate shall be established to provide benefits
under this section on account of school members employed by a school
employer.
(g) This section shall apply to members of a contracting agency
that, in its original contract or by amending its contract, first
elects effective on or after January 1, 1985, and prior to July 1,
2001, to make this article applicable to local members employed by
the agency. On or after January 1, 1985, and prior to July 1, 2001,
contracting agencies already subject to Section 21571 or Section
21572 may elect by contract amendment to be subject to this section.
All assets and liabilities of all contracting agencies subject to
this section, and their employees, on account of benefits provided
under this article shall be pooled into a single account, and a
single employer rate shall be established to provide benefits under
this section on account of members employed by a contracting agency
that is subject to this section. Any public agency first contracting
with the board on or after January 1, 1994, and prior to July 1,
2001, or any contracting agency amending its contract to remove
exclusions of member classifications on or after January 1, 1994, and
prior to July 1, 2001, that has not, pursuant to Section 418 of
Title 42 of the United States Code, entered into an agreement with
the federal government for the coverage of its employees under the
federal system, shall be subject to this section.
(h) The rate of contribution of an employer subject to this
section shall be figured using the term insurance valuation method.
If a contracting agency that is subject to this section has a surplus
in its 1959 survivor benefit account as of the date the contracting
agency becomes subject to this section, the surplus shall be applied
to reduce its rate of contribution. If a contracting agency that is
subject to this section has a deficit in its 1959 survivor benefit
account as of the date the contracting agency becomes subject to this
section, its rate of contribution shall be increased until the
deficit is paid.
(i) This section shall not apply to beneficiaries with respect to
the death of a state member employed by the California State
University occurring on or after January 1, 1988, unless provided for
in a memorandum of understanding reached pursuant to Chapter 12
(commencing with Section 3560) of Division 4 of Title 1, or
authorized by the Trustees of the California State University for
employees excluded from collective bargaining. The memorandum of
understanding shall be controlling without further legislative
action, except that if the provisions of a memorandum of
understanding require the expenditure of funds, the provisions shall
not become effective unless approved by the Legislature in the annual
Budget Act.
(j) This section shall apply to local members employed by a
contracting agency that has included this benefit in its contract
with the board on or before June 30, 2001.
(k) This section shall not apply to any contracting agency that
first contracts with the board on or after July 1, 2001.
(l) On and after January 1, 2000, all eligible state and school
members covered by this section shall be covered by the benefit
provided under Section 21574.7.