This section shall apply to any judge who retires on or before December 31, 2017.
(a) Optional settlement one consists of the right to have a retirement allowance paid to the judge for life and if he or she dies before receiving the amount of his or her accumulated contributions at retirement, to have the balance at death paid to his or her designated beneficiary or, if no beneficiary designation is in effect on the date of death, to his or her estate.
(b) (1) Optional settlement two consists of the right to have a retirement allowance paid to him or her for life and thereafter to his or her designated beneficiary for life.
(2) If the judge’s designated beneficiary predeceases the judge and the judge elected this optional settlement to be effective on or after January 1, 2002, the judge’s allowance shall be adjusted effective the first day of the month following the death of the beneficiary to reflect the benefit that would have been paid had the judge not elected an optional settlement.
(3) If the designated beneficiary is a spouse and the marriage is dissolved or a legal separation filed, and the judgment dividing the community property between the judge and the beneficiary awards the total interest in this system to the retired judge, or the marriage is annulled and confirmed by a court, and the judge elected this optional settlement to be effective on or after January 1, 2002, the retired judge’s allowance shall be adjusted effective the first day of the month following the filing of the judgment with the board to reflect the benefit that would have been paid had the judge not elected an optional settlement.
(c) (1) Optional settlement three consists of the right to have a retirement allowance paid him or her for life, and thereafter to have one-half of his or her retirement allowance paid to his or her designated beneficiary for life.
(2) If the judge’s designated beneficiary predeceases the judge and the judge elected this optional settlement to be effective on or after January 1, 2002, the judge’s allowance shall be adjusted effective the first day of the month following the death of the beneficiary to reflect the benefit that would have been paid had the judge not elected an optional settlement.
(3) If the designated beneficiary is a spouse and the marriage is dissolved or a legal separation filed, and the judgment dividing the community property between the judge and the beneficiary awards the total interest in this system to the retired judge, or the marriage is annulled and confirmed by a court, and the retired judge elected this optional settlement to be effective on or after January 1, 2002, the retired judge’s allowance shall be adjusted effective the first day of the month following the filing of the judgment with the board to reflect the benefit that would have been paid had the judge not elected an optional settlement.
(d) Optional settlement four consists of other benefits that are the actuarial equivalent of his or her retirement allowance, that he or she may select subject to the approval of the Judges’ Retirement System.
(e) When a judge elects, on or after January 1, 2003, to receive benefits provided by paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) or paragraph (2) of subdivision (c), and the judge and his or her optional settlement beneficiary both die before receiving in annuity payments the full amount of the judge’s accumulated contributions at retirement, the balance of the judge’s accumulated contributions shall be paid to the beneficiary designated by the judge. If the judge had no designated beneficiary in effect on the date of death, payment shall be made to the judge’s estate.
(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 241, Sec. 20. (SB 525) Effective January 1, 2018.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018