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24-4-608. Payment of benefits upon death of member before retirement — Exception.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
24-4-608. Payment of benefits upon death of member before retirement — Exception.
(a) Effective July 1, 2001, if an active member or former member with five (5) or more years of actual service dies before retirement, the applicable benefits provided in this section shall be paid upon written application to the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System.
(b) For purposes of computing benefits provided by this section, the deceased member's or former member's compensation at the time of death shall be the member's compensation for the year immediately preceding the cessation of his or her pay.
(c)(1) A member's or former member's surviving spouse who was married to the member at least six (6) months immediately preceding his or her death shall receive an annuity computed in the same manner in all respects as if the member or former member had:
(A) Retired the date of his or her death with entitlement to an annuity provided for in § 24-4-601;
(B) Elected the Option B75 survivor annuity provided for in § 24-4-606(a)(4); and
(C) Nominated his or her spouse as joint beneficiary.
(2)(A) If the member or former member had satisfied the age and service requirements provided for in § 24-4-101 or had acquired twenty (20) years of actual service, the spouse annuity shall commence immediately and be payable for life. If the member or former member had not satisfied the age and service requirement provided for in § 24-4-101 or had not acquired twenty (20) years of actual service, then the spouse annuity shall commence immediately and be payable until the earlier of his or her remarriage or death.
(B) A surviving spouse who is otherwise eligible but whose benefit has been deferred because the spouse did not meet the age requirements in effect
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 24-4-608
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. A text match is a research starting point; applicability is not established.
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Stable record: arkansas_code:legal_authorities:24-4-608
Source file: gov.ar.code.title.24.odt
Pages: Not recorded – Not recorded
Passage SHA-256: 8bfce207265b93631d683ab7f6ee0db456f3f846d9d2b386bbed1788225991c0
Source location: content.xml paragraph 2500
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24-4-608. Payment of benefits upon death of member before retirement — Exception.
(a) Effective July 1, 2001, if an active member or former member with five (5) or more years of actual service dies before retirement, the applicable benefits provided in this section shall be paid upon written application to the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System.
(b) For purposes of computing benefits provided by this section, the deceased member's or former member's compensation at the time of death shall be the member's compensation for the year immediately preceding the cessation of his or her pay.
(c)(1) A member's or former member's surviving spouse who was married to the member at least six (6) months immediately preceding his or her death shall receive an annuity computed in the same manner in all respects as if the member or former member had:
(A) Retired the date of his or her death with entitlement to an annuity provided for in § 24-4-601;
(B) Elected the Option B75 survivor annuity provided for in § 24-4-606(a)(4); and
(C) Nominated his or her spouse as joint beneficiary.
(2)(A) If the member or former member had satisfied the age and service requirements provided for in § 24-4-101 or had acquired twenty (20) years of actual service, the spouse annuity shall commence immediately and be payable for life. If the member or former member had not satisfied the age and service requirement provided for in § 24-4-101 or had not acquired twenty (20) years of actual service, then the spouse annuity shall commence immediately and be payable until the earlier of his or her remarriage or death.
(B) A surviving spouse who is otherwise eligible but whose benefit has been deferred because the spouse did not meet the age requirements in effect before July 1, 1999, shall be eligible to commence a spouse annuity effective July 1, 1999. The spouse annuity shall not be retroactive.
(3) The spouse annuity shall not be less than ten percent (10%) of the deceased member's or former member's covered compensation at the time of death.
(4) In any event, as long as the surviving spouse has in his or her care any of the deceased member's or former member's dependent children receiving a benefit provided for in this section, there shall be payable to him or her a spouse annuity as indicated in this section which shall not be less than ten percent (10%) of the deceased member's or former member's compensation at the time of death.
(d)(1)(A) A member's or former member's dependent child or dependent children shall each receive an annuity of the greater of either ten percent (10%) of the member's or former member's covered compensation at the time of death or an equal share of one hundred fifty dollars ($150) monthly.
(B) Where there are three (3) or more dependent children, each dependent child shall receive an annuity of an equal share of the greater of either twenty-five percent (25%) of the covered compensation or one hundred fifty dollars ($150) monthly.
(2)(A) A child shall be a dependent child until the child's death, marriage, or attainment of age eighteen (18), whichever occurs first.
(B)(i) However, the age-eighteen maximum shall be extended as long as the child continues uninterruptedly being a full-time student at an accredited secondary school, college, or university, but in no event beyond his or her attainment of age twenty-three (23).
(ii) In addition, the age-eighteen maximum shall be extended for any child who has been deemed physically or mentally incompetent by an Arkansas court of competent jurisdiction or by the board, for as long as the incompetency exists.
(3) Upon a child's ceasing to be a dependent child, his or her annuity shall terminate, and there shall be a redetermination of the amounts payable to any remaining dependent children.
(e) If at the time of the member's or former member's death there is neither a spouse nor a dependent child, each dependent parent shall receive an allowance of the greater of ten percent (10%) of the covered compensation or an equal share of one hundred fifty dollars ($150) monthly, but only if the board finds that the parent was dependent for at least fifty percent (50%) of his or her financial support upon the member or former member.
(f)(1) If no annuity can become payable to a dependent child due to the death of the member or former member and a surviving spouse or dependent parents are the only persons who will be eligible for monthly benefits and the spouse or dependent parents are also the designated beneficiaries of the member or former member, then, in that event, the surviving spouse or dependent parents may elect to receive a refund of the member's or former member's accumulated contributions as provided in § 24-4-602(d) in lieu of any benefits which could become payable under this act.
(2) The option to choose a refund of the member's or former member's contributions shall also be afforded to any spouse or dependent parent qualified under this section whose eligibility for the benefit occurred before the passage of this act and who could not exercise the option.
(3) Once the refund of the deceased member's or former member's accumulated contributions has been made to the surviving spouse or dependent parents under this section, the person shall have no future claim to monthly retirement benefits due to the death of the member or former member.
(g)(1) In the event that all the annuities provided for in this section payable on account of the death of a member or former member terminate before there has been paid an aggregate amount equal to his or her accumulated contributions standing to his or her credit in the members' deposit account at the time of his or her death, the difference between the accumulated contributions and the aggregate amount of annuity payments shall be paid to such person as he or she shall have nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the board.
(2) If there is no designated person surviving at termination, the difference shall be paid to the member's or former member's estate.
(h) Annuities payable under the provisions of this section shall be effective the first day of the calendar month next following the date of the member's or former member's death or the first day of the month following the month in which the survivor becomes eligible for benefits as provided by law.
(i) The provisions of this section shall not be applicable in determining survivor benefits under the General Assembly Division or the State Constitutional Officers' Division of the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System if a benefit is provided to the surviving spouse by other laws applicable to the Arkansas Public Employees’ Retirement System.
(j) The benefits provided in this section for former members shall not apply to former members who terminated covered employment prior to July 1, 1997, with less than ten (10) years of service or whose death occurred before July 1, 2001.
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Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
24-4-101. Definitions.
As used in this act:
(1) “Accumulated contributions” means the sum of all amounts deducted from the compensations of a member and credited to his or her individual account in the member's deposit account, together with regular interest as may have been credited thereon;
(2) “Actual service” means service credited at the rate of one (1) month for each month of service;
(3) “Actuarial equivalent” means a benefit of equal reserve value when “reserve” means the present value of all payments to be made on account of any benefit based upon such reasonable rates of interest and tables of experience as a plan shall adopt from time to time;
(4) “Actuary” means a qualified actuary with experience in retirement plan financing. Membership in the American Academy of Actuaries shall be sufficient for a person to be deemed a qualified actuary;
(5) “Age” means age on last birthday;
(6)(A) “Annuity” means a monthly amount payable from funds of the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System throughout the life of a person.
(B) All annuities shall be paid in equal monthly installments;
(7) “Annuity reserve” means the present value of an annuity computed upon the basis of mortality and other such tables of experience and regular interest, as the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System shall adopt;
(8) “Beneficiary” means any person except a retirant who is receiving or is designated by a member to receive a plan benefit;
(9) “Benefit program” means a schedule of benefits or benefit formulas from which the amounts of benefits can be determined;
(10) “Board” means the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System, as created in this act;
(11)(A) “Compensation” means the recurring remunerat
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 24-4-101
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 24-4-101. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
24-4-601. Straight life annuity generally.
(a)(1) Beginning July 1, 2001, any member who retires as provided in § 24-4-508 or §§ 24-4-510 — 24-4-512 shall receive a straight life annuity for each year of contributory service credit equal to two and seven-hundredths percent (2.07%) of the member's final average compensation multiplied by the number of years and fraction of a year of credited service rendered on or after July 1, 2001, with the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System.
(2) Beginning July 1, 2001, any member who retires as provided in § 24-4-508 or §§ 24-4-510 — 24-4-512 shall receive a straight life annuity for each year of contributory service credit equal to two and eleven-hundredths percent (2.11%) of the member's average compensation multiplied by the number of years and fraction of a year of credited service rendered before July 1, 2001, with the system.
(b)(1) For each year of noncontributory credited service in the system rendered prior to July 1, 2007, resulting from employment in a position covered at any time by Social Security or another federal retirement plan supported wholly or in part by employer contributions, a member shall receive one and seventy-five-hundredths percent (1.75%) of the member's final average compensation plus, for each year of noncontributory credited service in the system rendered prior to July 1, 2007, resulting from employment in a position never so covered, a member shall receive two and eleven-hundredths percent (2.11%) of the member's final average compensation.
(2) For each year of credited service in the system rendered after June 30, 2007, resulting from employment in a position covered at any time by Social Security or another federal retirement plan supported wholly or in part by employer contributio
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 24-4-601
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 24-4-601. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
24-4-602. Payment of annuity balance upon death of retirant or member.
(a) In the event a retirant who is in receipt of a straight life annuity dies before he or she has received in straight life annuity payments an aggregate amount equal to his or her accumulated contributions standing to his or her credit in the members' deposit account at the time of his or her retirement, the difference between his or her accumulated contributions and the aggregate amount of straight life annuity payments received by him or her shall be paid to such persons as he or she shall have nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System.
(b) If there is no designated person surviving the retirant, the difference, if any, shall be paid in accordance with the Arkansas laws of descent and distribution.
(c) The payments may be made directly to a curator or guardian, or to an administrator or an executor, authorized to receive the payments, wherever the representative may be, with or without the appointment of a representative in this state.
(d) In the event a member dies and does not leave a beneficiary entitled to an annuity payable from funds of the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System, his or her accumulated contributions standing to his or her credit in the members' deposit account as of the time of his or her death shall be paid pursuant to the provisions of this section.
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 24-4-602
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 24-4-602. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
24-4-606. Annuity options.
(a) Before the date the first payment of a member's annuity becomes due, but not thereafter, a member may elect to receive his or her annuity as a straight life annuity or may elect to have his or her annuity reduced and nominate a beneficiary in accordance with the provisions of one (1) of the following options:
(1) Option A60 — 60 Months Certain and Life Annuity.
(A) Under Option A60, the retirant shall be paid a reduced annuity for life with the provision that if the retirant's death occurs before sixty (60) monthly payments have been made, the full reduced annuity shall continue to be paid for the remainder of the sixty (60) months to such persons and in such shares as the retirant shall have designated in writing and filed with the plan. If there is no payee surviving, the lump-sum actuarial equivalent of the remaining monthly payments shall be paid to the estate of the last survivor among the retirant and the designated persons.
(B) The reduced annuity shall be ninety-eight percent (98%) of the straight life annuity;
(2) Option A120 — 120 Months Certain and Life Annuity.
(A) Under Option A120, the retirant shall be paid a reduced annuity for life with the provision that if the retirant's death occurs before one hundred twenty (120) monthly payments have been made, the full reduced annuity shall continue to be paid for the remainder of the one hundred twenty (120) months to such persons and in such shares as the retirant shall have designated in writing and filed with the plan. If there is no payee surviving, the lump sum actuarial equivalent of the remaining monthly payments shall be paid to the estate of the last survivor among the retirant and the designated persons.
(B) The reduced annuity shall be ninety-four percent (9
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 24-4-606
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 24-4-606. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.