Maine § 1355-A. - Minimum ordinary death benefits

§ 1355-A.. Minimum ordinary death benefits

1.  Benefit.  Notwithstanding the provisions of section 1355, any eligible surviving spouse and dependent child or children of a judge who was in service prior to December 1, 1984, shall, upon the death of that judge, be entitled to a minimum benefit of 1/2 the retirement benefit of the judge, determined in accordance with section 1352, on the assumption that retirement of the judge had taken place on the date of death. If more than one child is eligible for this benefit, it shall be divided equally among them. This benefit shall continue as long as the spouse or child or children remain eligible.

2.  Eligibility.  Eligibility for the minimum benefit of this section is determined as follows.

A. A surviving spouse is eligible as long as that spouse does not become the dependent of another person.   [PL 1983, c. 853, Pt. C, §§ 15, 18 (NEW).]

B. The dependent child or children are eligible until they no longer meet the definition of "dependent child" under section 1201, subsection 6‑A.   [PL 1989, c. 133, §32 (AMD).]

3.  Election of benefits.  The benefits described in this section shall be instead of any benefits payable under either section 1355 or section 1356.

Any person entitled to receive benefits under this section may elect, before benefit payments begin, to receive benefits under section 1355 or section 1356 instead of these benefits, if all requirements of that section are complied with.  

4.  Cost-of-living adjustments.  Payments made under subsection 1 shall be adjusted pursuant to section 1358 in the same manner as retirement allowances.