21574.5
. (a) In lieu of benefits provided in Section 21571, 21572,
21573, or 21574, if the death benefit provided by Section 21532 is
payable on account of a local 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 spouse 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 disability
that began before and has continued without interruption after the
attainment of that age.
(2) The guardian of surviving unmarried children, including
stepchildren, of the member who are 22 years of age or are so
incapacitated.
(3) The surviving spouse 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 contracting agency, shall be
paid:
(1) A surviving spouse who was either continuously married to the
member for at least one year prior to death, or 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 one thousand dollars
($1,000) per month if there is one child or one thousand five hundred
dollars ($1,500) 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 five hundred dollars ($500) 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 five
hundred dollars ($500) per month.
(B) If there are two children, the children shall be paid one
thousand dollars ($1,000) per month divided equally between them.
(C) If there are three or more children, the children shall be
paid one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per month divided
equally among them.
(3) A surviving spouse who has attained or attains the age of 60
years, and who was either continuously married to the member for at
least one year prior to death, or was married to the member prior to
the occurrence of the injury or onset of the illness that resulted in
death, shall be paid five hundred dollars ($500) per month. No
allowance shall be paid under paragraph (1), or while an allowance is
being paid under subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2). The allowance
paid under this paragraph shall be five hundred dollars ($500) 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 60 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 five hundred dollars ($500) 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 only apply to members of a contracting
agency that, by amending its contract, first elects on or after
January 1, 2000, to make this section applicable to local members
employed by the agency. On and after January 1, 2000, contracting
agencies already subject to Section 21571, 21572, or 21573 may elect
by contract amendment to be subject to this section. A public agency
that first contracts with the board or amends its contract to remove
exclusions of member classifications on or after July 1, 2001, shall
include this section or Section 21574 in its contract. 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.
(e) This section or Section 21574 shall apply to public agencies
that employ eligible school safety members, as defined in Section
20444, and that first contract with the board on or after July 1,
2001.
(f) The rate of contribution of an employer subject to this
section shall be calculated using a method determined by the board.
(g) In each subsequent year following the enactment of this
section, the benefits prescribed by this section shall be indexed at
a rate of 2 percent per year for both beneficiaries already receiving
the benefit and for potential beneficiaries of members who die in
the future.