Colorado § 24-51-904 - Survivor benefits - eligibility - "member" defined.

§ 24-51-904. Survivor benefits - eligibility - "member" defined.

(1) (a) Survivor benefits may become payable if the deceased person was:

(I) A member who had earned at least one year of service credit; except that such one-year service requirement shall be waived if the death of the member was job-incurred; or

(II) An inactive member who had earned at least one year but less than five years of service credit with at least six months of the service credit earned within three years immediately preceding death and the board finds that the inactive member died from the same illness or injury which caused the termination of employment for such inactive member; or

(III) An inactive member who had earned at least five years of service credit.

(b) For the purposes of this part 9, unless the context otherwise requires, "member" means a deceased member or a deceased inactive member who meets the eligibility requirements for survivor benefits on the date of death of such member.

(2) In the event the member did not meet the service credit requirements specified in subsection (1) of this section, no survivor benefits shall be payable; however, a single payment shall be made to the named beneficiary of such member or, if no named beneficiary exists, to the estate of the member.

(3) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this part 9, unless otherwise indicated, survivor payments of DPS members shall be governed by sections 24-51-1735 to 24-51-1746. Pursuant to the portability provisions of part 17 of this article, any frozen accounts shall be treated as inactive and governed by the survivor provisions applicable to the frozen account.

Source: L. 87: Entire article R&RE, p. 1067, § 1, effective July 1. L. 88: (1)(a)(II) amended and (1)(a)(III) added, p. 961, § 11, effective July 1. L. 2009: (3) added, (SB 09-282), ch. 288, p. 1346, § 38, effective January 1, 2010.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former §§ 24-51-117, 24-51-217, 24-51-612, and 24-51-803 as they existed prior to 1987. For a detailed comparison, see the comparative tables located in the back of the index.

ANNOTATION

Annotator's note. Since § 24-51-904 is similar to §§ 24-51-117 and 24-51-803 as they existed prior to the 1987 repeal and reenactment of this article, relevant cases construing those provisions have been included in the annotations to this section.

Member's interest in the fund is deemed to be personal. Greene v. Pub. Employee's Retirement Ass'n, 39 Colo. App. 468, 570 P.2d 24 (1977), rev'd on other grounds, 195 Colo. 575, 580 P.2d 385 (1978).

Employer's determination that deceased fulfilled contract relevant in determining period of credited service. A determination by the employer that the deceased had fulfilled the requirements of his contract does not bind the public employees' retirement association, but it is certainly relevant to the determination of the deceased's period of credited service. Endsley v. Pub. Employees' Retirement Ass'n, 33 Colo. App. 416, 520 P.2d 1063 (1974).

Teacher not required to continually physically perform employment duties for calendar year. Where the employment contract for a teacher normally covers a calendar year, but requires the performance of employment duties for only a nine-month period, credited service does not require the continual physical performance of the duties of employment for the period sought to be included in the credited service calculation. Endsley v. Pub. Employees' Retirement Ass'n, 33 Colo. App. 416, 520 P.2d 1063 (1974).

Accumulated sick leave may be included in calculating "credited service" given by the deceased. Endsley v. Pub. Employees' Retirement Ass'n, 33 Colo. App. 416, 520 P.2d 1063 (1974).

Credited service ceases when payments into the fund in employee's name are terminated. Endsley v. Pub. Employees' Retirement Ass'n, 33 Colo. App. 416, 520 P.2d 1063 (1974).

Where requisite accredited service not rendered and no active membership, no survivor's benefits. Where a disability retiree has not rendered the requisite accredited service immediately prior to his death, and has not been an active member of the public employees' retirement association at the time of his death, his widow, not meeting the requirements and conditions imposed by the general assembly, is not entitled to survivor's benefits. Martin v. Pub. Employees' Retirement Bd., 150 Colo. 127, 371 P.2d 266 (1962).

Applied in Dawson v. Pub. Employees' Retirement Ass'n, 664 P.2d 702 (Colo. 1983).