§762. Survivor benefits

A. Survivor benefits shall be due and payable by the system effective the first day of the next month following the death of the member, but shall not be paid until a properly completed and acceptable application is received by the system and all proper certifications have been received by the system.

B.(1)(a) This Subparagraph shall apply to all benefits paid under this Subsection to a surviving spouse as the result of a death which occurred prior to July 1, 1997. A surviving spouse with a minor child or children shall be paid per month, for so long as one or more children remain eligible for benefits under Subsection C hereof, fifty percent of the benefit to which the member would have been entitled upon retirement at the age of sixty years had he continued in service to the age of sixty years without further change in compensation and using a factor of two and one-half percent regardless of years of service or age, or six hundred dollars per month, whichever is greater, provided the deceased member was an active member at the time of death and had five or more years of service credit, at least two years of which were earned immediately prior to death or provided the deceased member had twenty or more years of service credit regardless of when earned or whether the deceased member was in active service at the time of death.

(b) This Subparagraph shall apply to all benefits paid under this Subsection to a surviving spouse as the result of a death which occurred on or after July 1, 1997. A surviving spouse with a minor child or children shall be paid per month, for so long as one or more children remain eligible for benefits under Subsection C of this Section, fifty percent of the benefit to which the member would have been entitled if he had retired on the date of his death using a factor of two and one-half percent regardless of years of service or age, or six hundred dollars per month, whichever is greater, provided the deceased member was an active member at the time of death and had five or more years of service credit, at least two years of which were earned immediately prior to death or provided the deceased member had twenty or more years of service credit regardless of when earned or whether the deceased member was in active service at the time of death.

(2) Benefits shall cease upon remarriage and shall resume upon a subsequent divorce or death of a new spouse; however, if the member was eligible to retire on the date of his death, benefits shall not cease upon remarriage.

(3) Whenever all surviving children cease to be eligible for benefits under Subsection C hereof, the surviving spouse shall cease to receive benefits provided by this Subsection and thereafter, if eligible, shall receive benefits in accordance with the provisions of Subsection D hereof.

C. For the benefit of the surviving minor children there shall be paid, for each minor child, subject to a maximum of two children, per month fifty percent of the benefit to which a spouse would be entitled under Subsection B of this Section. Benefits shall be payable to such children even where no spouse eligible for survivor benefits is present, provided the member had at least five years of service credit. Benefits for a child shall cease when the child is no longer a minor child as defined by this Chapter. No surviving minor child shall receive more than one survivor's benefit at any one time. If two benefits are applicable, only the larger shall be paid.

D.(1) A surviving spouse without minor children shall be paid per month, for the remainder of his life, the Option 2 equivalent of the benefit amount based on years of service that the member had earned to the date of his death using the two and one-half percent benefit formula; or six hundred dollars per month, whichever is greater, provided the surviving spouse had been married to the deceased member for at least one year prior to death, and provided the deceased member was an active member at the time of death and had ten or more years of service credit, at least two years of which were earned immediately prior to death or provided the deceased member had twenty or more years of service credit regardless of when earned or whether the deceased member was in active service at the time of death.

(2) Benefits shall cease upon remarriage and shall resume upon a subsequent divorce or death of the new spouse; however, if the member was eligible to retire on the date of his death, benefits shall not cease upon remarriage.

E. Each survivor benefit recipient shall be required to establish proof annually or at such other times as the board of trustees may deem necessary that they are still legally entitled to the survivor benefits provided in this Section. The board of trustees shall have the right to suspend or cancel any survivor benefit wherein the recipient fails to provide proper certification of eligibility.

F. The accumulated contributions of a deceased member shall be paid in a lump sum refund to the natural person or persons that he designated as his beneficiary, or to his succession if there is no designated beneficiary, but only if no benefits under Subsection A, B, C, D, H, or I of this Section are payable.

G. Payment of accumulated contributions shall be made only upon receipt of the deceased member's death certificate. Said payment to the named beneficiary or the estate cancels all liability of the system to the deceased member, his named beneficiary or his estate.

H. In the event of death of a member leaving a surviving spouse and dependent children, the total of the benefits payable under Subsections B and C of this Section shall not be less each month than what would have been payable under Subsection D of this Section for as long as both spouse and children are eligible to receive benefits under Subsection B and C of this Section.

I. If a member dies, even after retirement, eligible minor children shall receive the benefits under Subsection C of this Section.

J. The benefits payable under Subsection C of this Section shall be paid to the person having legal custody of the property of the child, except in those cases when a trust created under Louisiana law has been created by the deceased member for the benefit of the child, the terms of the instrument creating the trust so provide and the system has been provided with a certified copy of the trust document, then the survivor benefit shall be paid to the trust under the terms of the trust for addition to the trust property. In the event that the trust is contested by any party, the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana shall withhold all survivor benefit payments or deposit them in the registry of the court if a concursus proceeding is filed, until there is a final binding legal agreement or judgment regarding the proper payment of the survivor benefits.

Added by Acts 1956, No. 457, §§1, 3. Amended by Acts 1963, No. 133, §1; Acts 1965, No. 87, §1; Acts 1969, No. 81, §1; Acts 1970, No. 411, §1; Acts 1971, No. 5, §4; Acts 1974, No. 351, §1; Acts 1978, No. 648, §4, eff. July 13, 1978; Acts 1981, No. 234, §1; Acts 1983, No. 233, §1; Acts 1984, No. 449, §1; Redesignated from R.S. 17:631.1 by Acts 1991, No. 74, §3, eff. June 25, 1991; Acts 1993, No. 721, §1, eff. July 1, 1993; Acts 1995, No. 571, §1, eff. July 1, 1995; Acts 1995, No. 592, §1, eff. July 1, 1995; Acts 1997, No. 188, §1, eff. July 1, 1997; Acts 1997, No. 812, §1, eff. July 1, 1997; Acts 1999, No. 47, §1, eff. July 1, 1999; Acts 2001, No. 1172, §1, eff. March 1, 2002.

NOTE: See Acts 2001, No. 1172, §4, relative to effective date.

NOTE: See Acts 2001, No. 1172, §2 (2nd) relative to funding and accountability and see Acts 2001, No. 1172, §3 relative to nonseverability.