(a) An option elected under Section 24300, 24300.1, or 24307 may be canceled by a retired member if the option beneficiary is the retired member’s spouse or former spouse and a final decree of dissolution of marriage or a judgment of nullity has been entered or an order of separate maintenance has been made on or after January 1, 1978, by a court of competent jurisdiction. A retired member may cancel the option before or after issuance of the first retirement allowance payment.

(b) The retired member shall notify the board, in writing on a properly executed form provided by the system, of cancellation of the option. Notification shall not be earlier than the effective date of the decree, judgment, or order and shall include a certified copy of the final decree of dissolution, or judgment of nullity, or an order of separate maintenance, and any property settlement agreement.

(c) Upon notification to the board, the retired member may elect: (1) to receive the unmodified retirement allowance from the date of receipt of the notification; or (2) a new joint and survivor option under Section 24300.1 and may designate one or multiple new option beneficiaries. Modification of the retirement allowance because of the newly elected option or newly designated beneficiary or beneficiaries shall be based on the ages of the retired member and the new option beneficiary or beneficiaries as of the effective date of the new option. The election of a new joint and survivor option or the designation of a new option beneficiary or beneficiaries shall be consistent with the final decree of dissolution, judgment of nullity, order of separate maintenance, or property settlement agreement, and shall not result in any additional liability to the Teachers’ Retirement Fund. The effective date of the change shall be the date notification is received by the board.

(d) (1) A retired member electing to receive an unmodified or modified retirement allowance pursuant to subdivision (c), who is not married or in a registered domestic partnership at the time of the election and who thereafter marries or registers in a domestic partnership, may later elect an option described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 24300.1, naming his or her new spouse or registered domestic partner as the option beneficiary, subject to all of the following:

(A) The retired member shall notify the board, in writing on a properly executed form provided by the system, of the election of the option and the designation of the member’s new spouse or registered domestic partner as the option beneficiary. That notice shall include a certified copy of the marriage certificate or the certificate of registration of domestic partnership.

(B) The election shall be effective six months after the date the notification is received by the board, provided that both the retired member and the retired member’s designated spouse or registered domestic partner are then living. If, before the new election becomes effective, the member terminates his or her benefit pursuant to Section 24208 or the retired member or the new option beneficiary dies, the new election is void and the election pursuant to subdivision (c) remains in effect.

(2) The election of the option and designation of the option beneficiary under this section shall result in an actuarial modification of the member’s retirement allowance that shall be payable through the life of the member and the member’s new spouse or registered domestic partner. Modification of the member’s retirement allowance pursuant to this subdivision shall be based on the ages of the retired member and the retired member’s new spouse or registered domestic partner as of the effective date of the election and shall not be in conflict with the final decree of dissolution, judgment of nullity, order of separate maintenance, or property settlement agreement.

(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 416, Sec. 17. (SB 1165) Effective January 1, 2019.)