(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the designated beneficiary or beneficiaries of any judge who designated a beneficiary to receive an optional settlement benefit by a writing filed with the board, in compliance with Section 75074, on or after January 1, 2003, and before January 1, 2007, and who dies while in office, shall be entitled to receive the optional settlement benefit the judge elected pursuant to Section 75071, subject to the provisions of subdivisions (b) and (c).

(b) The benefit payable under this section shall be actuarially adjusted to an amount equal in value to the amount the judge would have received if the judge retired on the date of death. If the judge was not eligible to retire on the date of death, the allowance shall not be payable until the date upon which the judge would have been eligible to begin receiving a service retirement allowance under Section 75025.

(c) If the designated beneficiary of a judge who dies while in office receives an allowance pursuant to this section, no person shall have any other claim to benefits otherwise available to the judge’s designated or statutory beneficiaries with respect to the Judges’ Retirement Fund or with respect to any other provision of the Judges’ Retirement Law. However, if the judge’s surviving spouse is eligible for an allowance under Section 75104.4, the allowance provided for by Section 75104.4 shall be paid and the allowance payable under this section shall be actuarially adjusted to reflect the benefit provided by Section 75104.4. All benefits paid under this section are subject to the provisions of subdivision (b) of Section 75074.

(d) This section does not prevent a beneficiary from claiming or receiving payments to which he or she may be entitled under the Extended Service Incentive Program set forth in Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 75085).

(Added by Stats. 2008, Ch. 1, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2009.)