2006 Minnesota Statutes

422A.23 SURVIVOR BENEFITS.
    Subdivision 1. Payment of city installment accumulated amount. (a) If an active or
deferred member dies with ten or more years of service credit, except as noted in paragraph (d),
the individual specified in paragraph (b) is eligible to receive the benefit specified in paragraph (c).
(b) An individual eligible for the benefit specified in paragraph (c) is a beneficiary designated
by the member on a form specified by the executive director. If the member failed to designate
a beneficiary, or if the beneficiary or beneficiaries designated by the employee predecease the
employee, the benefit in paragraph (c) is payable to the deceased employee's estate.
(c) The benefit is a lump-sum payment of the present value of the city's or other contributing
employer's annual installments of $60 to the credit of the member.
(d) No benefit is payable under this subdivision if a monthly survivor benefit is paid on
behalf of the deceased employee under another subdivision of this section.
    Subd. 2. Short-service survivor benefit. (a) If an active member dies prior to termination of
service with at least 18 months but less than 20 years of service credit, the surviving spouse or
surviving child or children is eligible to receive the survivor benefit specified in paragraph (b) or
(c), as applicable. Payment of a benefit for any surviving child under the age of 18 years shall be
made to the surviving parent, or if there be none, to the legal guardian of the surviving child.
(b) If the surviving spouse or surviving child benefit commenced before July 1, 1983, the
surviving spouse benefit is increased from $500 per month to $750 per month and the surviving
child benefit is $225 per month, beginning with the first monthly payment payable after May 28,
1998. The sum of surviving spouse and surviving child benefits payable under this paragraph
shall not exceed $900 per month. The increased cost resulting from the benefit increases under
this paragraph must be allocated to each employing unit listed in section 422A.101, subdivisions
1a, 2, and 2a , on the basis of the additional accrued liability resulting from increased benefits paid
to the survivors of employees from that unit.
(c) If the surviving spouse or surviving child benefit commences after June 30, 1983, the
surviving spouse benefit is 30 percent of the member's average salary in effect over the last six
months of allowable service preceding the month in which death occurs. The surviving child
benefit is ten percent of the member's average salary in effect over the last six months of allowable
service preceding the month in which death occurs. The sum of surviving spouse and surviving
child benefits payable under this paragraph shall not exceed 50 percent of the member's average
salary in effect over the last six months of allowable service.
(d) Any surviving child benefit or surviving spouse benefit computed under paragraph (c)
and in effect for the month immediately prior to May 28, 1998, is increased by 15 percent as of
the first payment on or after May 28, 1998.
(e) Surviving child benefits under this subdivision terminate when the child no longer meets
the definition of surviving child.
    Subd. 3.[Repealed, 1983 c 286 s 26]
    Subd. 4.[Repealed, 1976 c 279 s 4]
    Subd. 5. Administration. Benefits provided in this section following the death of an active
employee or deferred member, as applicable, commence on the first day of the month following
the month in which the active employee or deferred member dies and shall end with the last day
of the month preceding the month in which eligibility ceases. Information deemed necessary by
the executive director to determine eligibility for the benefits provided by this section must be
submitted. Failure to furnish any required information shall be sufficient grounds for denial or
discontinuance of benefits. A determination made by the executive director may be appealed
to the retirement board, whose determination is final. If the surviving spouse of the deceased
active employee or deferred member becomes entitled to a retirement allowance by reason of
membership in this fund, the surviving spouse is authorized to receive the retirement allowance
in addition to all applicable surviving spouse benefits to which the surviving spouse is entitled
as specified in this section and section 422A.22, subdivision 4, if applicable. The cost of all
benefits provided in this section is an obligation of the members and of the city, any of its boards,
departments, commissions or public corporations or other applicable employing units.
    Subd. 6. Survivor benefit employee contribution. The retirement board shall create a
reserve account for survivor's benefits from which shall be paid on an actuarial basis all survivor
benefits due and payable. At the end of each fiscal year, as part of the annual actuarial valuation of
the fund prepared by the actuary retained under section 356.214, a determination of the normal
cost of the benefits payable from the survivor's benefit account shall be made and the board shall
reduce or increase the employee contribution rate if and when it is determined based on the annual
actuarial valuation that the member contribution rate is in excess of or is less than the amount
necessary to pay for 50 percent of the calculated normal cost of the survivor benefits provided
in this section.
    Subd. 7. Long-service active and deferred member survivor coverage. (a) If the active
or deferred member dies with 20 or more years of service credit, a beneficiary as defined in
paragraph (b) is eligible to receive the benefit specified in paragraph (c).
(b) The beneficiary eligible for a benefit under paragraph (c) is the surviving spouse of the
deceased employee. If there is no surviving spouse, the beneficiary may be a dependent surviving
child of the member or dependent parent designated by the employee on a form prescribed by
the executive director.
(c) The benefit payable to the beneficiary designated in paragraph (b) is a monthly allowance
for life. The monthly allowance is the actuarial equivalent of a single life service allowance
specified in section 422A.15, subdivision 1, which would have been payable to the employee on
the date of death, notwithstanding the age requirement stated in section 422A.15, subdivision 1.
For purposes of this section, the amount of any excess contributions or voluntary additions by the
member shall not be included in the calculations in determining the monthly allowance.
(d) For benefits payable under this subdivision following the death of a deferred member, the
benefit must be calculated as of the date of termination from service and increased by five percent
per year until January 1, 1981, and by three percent per year thereafter, compounded annually.
    Subd. 8. Surviving child; dependent definition. For purposes of subdivision 2, a surviving
child is an unmarried child of the deceased member under the age of 18, or under the age of 22 if
a full-time student at an accredited school, college, or university. For purposes of subdivision 7, a
dependent surviving child or dependent parent must meet the definition of dependent, as defined
in section 422A.01, subdivision 12, at the time of the active or deferred member's death.
    Subd. 9. Lump-sum death benefit. If no monthly survivor benefit is payable under
subdivision 2 or 7, there shall be paid from the survivor benefit account to a beneficiary designated
by the employee on a form prescribed by the executive director a lump-sum death benefit of $750
if death occurs prior to the end of the employee's tenth year of service credit or of $1,500 if the
employee had ten or more years of service credit. Any benefit under this subdivision may be paid
in addition to a benefit payable under subdivision 1.
    Subd. 10. Benefit increases. Annuities payable under this section must be adjusted at the
same time and rate as retirement annuities in the retirement benefit fund.
    Subd. 11. Effect of spouse remarriage. A monthly survivor benefit must not be discontinued
or terminated due to a surviving spouse's remarriage.
    Subd. 12. Determination of annuity. The survivor annuities payable under this section
must be computed and determined under a procedure specified by the actuary retained under
section 356.214 utilizing the appropriate mortality table based on the experience of the fund as
recommended by that actuary and approved by the Legislative Commission on Pensions and
Retirement and using the applicable postretirement interest rate assumption specified in section
356.215, subdivision 8.
History: 1973 c 133 s 23; 1973 c 770 s 15; 1974 c 75 s 1-3; 1974 c 76 s 13; 1974 c 232 s 1;
1976 c 279 s 1,2; 1977 c 399 s 18,19; 1980 c 607 art 14 s 45 subd 2; s 46; 1981 c 224 s 191; 1983
c 286 s 20; 1986 c 444; 1987 c 259 s 77,78; 1991 c 345 art 4 s 12; 1992 c 480 s 5; 1998 c 390 art
2 s 16; 1999 c 222 art 17 s 7; 2002 c 392 art 11 s 52; 2006 c 271 art 3 s 47