(a) In lieu of benefits provided in Section 21571 or Section 21572, if the death benefit provided by Section 21532 is payable on account of a state 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 children, including stepchildren, of the member who are not married or in registered domestic partnerships and are under 22 years of age or are incapacitated because of a disability that began before and has continued without interruption after attainment of that age.

(2) The guardian of surviving children, including stepchildren, of the member who are not married or in registered domestic partnerships and are under 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 state, shall be paid:

(1) A surviving spouse who was either continuously married to, or in a registered domestic partnership with, the member for at least one year prior to death, or who was married to, or in a registered domestic partnership with, the member prior to the occurrence of the injury or onset of the illness that resulted in death, and has the care of children, including stepchildren, of the deceased member who are not married or in registered domestic partnerships and are under 22 years of age or are so incapacitated, shall be paid seven hundred dollars ($700) per month if there is one child, or eight hundred forty dollars ($840) 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 three hundred fifty dollars ($350) 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 children, including stepchildren, of the deceased member who are not married or in registered domestic partnerships and 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 three hundred fifty dollars ($350) per month.

(B) If there are two children, the children shall be paid seven hundred dollars ($700) per month divided equally between them.

(C) If there are three or more children, the children shall be paid eight hundred forty dollars ($840) per month divided equally among them.

(3) A surviving spouse who has attained or attains 62 years of age, and, with respect to that surviving spouse, who was either continuously married to, or in a registered domestic partnership with, the member for at least one year prior to death, or who was married to, or in a registered domestic partnership with, the member prior to the occurrence of the injury or onset of the illness that resulted in death, shall be paid three hundred fifty dollars ($350) per month. No allowance shall be paid under this paragraph while the surviving spouse is receiving an allowance under paragraph (1) or while an allowance is being paid under subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2). The allowance paid under this paragraph shall be one hundred forty dollars ($140) 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, marry, or enter into a registered domestic partnership or, if not incapacitated, reach 22 years of age, each of the member’s dependent parents who has attained or attains 62 years of age, 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 three hundred fifty dollars ($350) 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 apply to beneficiaries of state members whose death occurred before January 1, 1985. Where a surviving spouse attained 62 years of age prior to January 1, 1987, entitlement shall exist retroactive to January 1, 1985, or to his or her 62nd birthday, whichever is later. All assets and liabilities of all state agencies and their employees on account of benefits provided to beneficiaries specified in this subdivision shall be pooled into a single account. The board shall transfer from the reserve for 1959 survivor contributions retained in the retirement fund an amount sufficient to pay the cost of the increased benefits provided by this subdivision for beneficiaries of members who died on or before December 31, 1984.

(e) This section shall not apply to beneficiaries with respect to the death of a state member, except as provided in subdivision (i), occurring on or after January 1, 1985, unless provided for in a memorandum of understanding reached pursuant to Section 3517.5, or authorized by the Director of Personnel Administration for classifications of state employees that are excluded from, or not subject to, collective bargaining. The memorandum of understanding adopting this section shall be controlling without further legislative action, except that if those provisions of a memorandum of understanding require the expenditure of funds, those provisions shall not become effective unless approved by the Legislature as provided by law.

(f) This section shall apply, with respect to benefits payable on and after January 1, 1985, to school members and to school safety members, as defined in Section 20444. All assets and liabilities of all school employers, 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 school members employed by a school employer.

(g) This section shall apply to members of a contracting agency that, in its original contract or by amending its contract, first elects effective on or after January 1, 1985, and prior to July 1, 2001, to make this article applicable to local members employed by the agency. On or after January 1, 1985, and prior to July 1, 2001, contracting agencies already subject to Section 21571 or Section 21572 may elect by contract amendment to be subject to this section. 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. Any public agency first contracting with the board on or after January 1, 1994, and prior to July 1, 2001, or any contracting agency amending its contract to remove exclusions of member classifications on or after January 1, 1994, and prior to July 1, 2001, that has not, pursuant to Section 418 of Title 42 of the United States Code, entered into an agreement with the federal government for the coverage of its employees under the federal system, shall be subject to this section.

(h) The rate of contribution of an employer subject to this section shall be figured using the term insurance valuation method. If a contracting agency that is subject to this section has a surplus in its 1959 survivor benefit account as of the date the contracting agency becomes subject to this section, the surplus shall be applied to reduce its rate of contribution. If a contracting agency that is subject to this section has a deficit in its 1959 survivor benefit account as of the date the contracting agency becomes subject to this section, its rate of contribution shall be increased until the deficit is paid.

(i) This section shall not apply to beneficiaries with respect to the death of a state member employed by the California State University occurring on or after January 1, 1988, unless provided for in a memorandum of understanding reached pursuant to Chapter 12 (commencing with Section 3560) of Division 4 of Title 1, or authorized by the Trustees of the California State University for employees excluded from collective bargaining. The memorandum of understanding shall be controlling without further legislative action, except that if the provisions of a memorandum of understanding require the expenditure of funds, the provisions shall not become effective unless approved by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act.

(j) This section shall apply to local members employed by a contracting agency that has included this benefit in its contract with the board on or before June 30, 2001.

(k) This section shall not apply to any contracting agency that first contracts with the board on or after July 1, 2001.

(l) On and after January 1, 2000, all eligible state and school members covered by this section shall be covered by the benefit provided under Section 21574.7.

(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 50, Sec. 49. (SB 1005) Effective January 1, 2017.)