Section 31760.2 Of Article 11. Optional Retirement Allowances From California Government Code >> Division 4. >> Title 3. >> Part 3. >> Chapter 3. >> Article 11.
31760.2
. (a) Notwithstanding Section 31481 or 31760.1, upon the
death of any member after retirement for service or
non-service-connected disability from a retirement system established
in a county pursuant to this chapter, 60 percent of his or her
retirement allowance, if not modified in accordance with one of the
optional settlements specified in this article, shall be continued to
his or her surviving spouse for life. If there is no surviving
spouse entitled to an allowance under this section or if she or he
dies before every child of the deceased member attains the age of 18
years, then the allowance that the surviving spouse would have
received had he or she lived, shall be paid to his or her child or
children under that age collectively, to continue until each child
dies or attains that age. However, no child may receive any allowance
after marrying or attaining the age of 18 years.
(b) No allowance may be paid under this section to a surviving
spouse unless he or she was married to the member at least two years
prior to the date of death and has attained the age of 55 years on or
prior to the date of death.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, the
benefits otherwise payable to the children of the member shall be
paid to the children through the age of 21 years if the children
remain unmarried and are regularly enrolled as full-time students in
an accredited school, as determined by the board.
(d) If at the death of any retired member there is no surviving
spouse or minor children eligible for the 60-percent continuance
provided in this section and the total retirement allowance income
received by the retired member during his or her lifetime did not
equal or exceed his or her accumulated normal contributions, the
retired member's designated beneficiary shall be paid an amount equal
to the excess of his or her accumulated normal contributions over
his or her total retirement allowance income.
(e) No allowance may be paid pursuant to this section to any
person who is entitled to an allowance pursuant to Section 31760.1.
(f) The superseding rights pursuant to this section do not affect
benefits payable to a named beneficiary as provided under Section
31789, 31789.01, 31789.1, 31789.12, 31789.13, 31789.2, 31789.3,
31789.5, or 31790.
(g) This section is not applicable in any county until the board
of retirement, by resolution adopted by a majority vote, makes this
section applicable in the county. The board's resolution may
designate a date, which may be prior or subsequent to the date of the
resolution, as of which the resolution and this section shall be
operative in the county.