1-2009. BENEFIT TO SURVIVING SPOUSE OF JUSTICE OR JUDGE. The legislature hereby finds and declares that the payment of allowances to the surviving spouses of justices of the supreme court, judges of the court of appeals and district judges of the district court of the state of Idaho, serves the public purpose of promoting the public welfare by encouraging experienced jurists to continue their service and that their continued service and increased efficiency will be secured in the expectation that the legislature will fairly provide for their surviving spouses, and that such continued service and increased efficiency of such jurists, secure in this knowledge, will be of substantial benefit to the state.

The surviving spouse, of any justice or judge entitled to benefits under this chapter who dies on or after July 1, 1965, shall receive an allowance from the judges’ retirement fund, payable monthly, and as hereinafter provided.

(a) In the case of a justice or judge receiving retirement compensation at the time of death, allowance to his surviving spouse shall commence immediately and be payable to such spouse from such fund in an amount equal to fifty percent (50%) of the retirement compensation to which such justice or judge would be entitled under section 1-2001(2), Idaho Code; provided, that the allowance payable to the surviving spouse of a justice or judge who first assumed the office of supreme court justice, judge of the court of appeals or district judge on or after July 1, 2012, shall be thirty percent (30%) of the retirement compensation to which such justice or judge would be entitled.

(b) In the case of a justice or judge who has service as a justice of the supreme court, judge of the court of appeals or district judge of four (4) years or more and is not receiving retirement compensation at the time of death, commencing immediately, the surviving spouse shall be paid an allowance from such fund in the amount of fifty percent (50%) of the retirement compensation to which the justice or judge would have been entitled under section 1-2001(2)(a), Idaho Code, as if the justice or judge was eligible to retire and had retired immediately before his death; provided, that the allowance payable to the surviving spouse of a justice or judge who first assumed the office of supreme court justice, judge of the court of appeals or district judge on or after July 1, 2012, shall be thirty percent (30%) of the retirement compensation to which such justice or judge would have been entitled, as if the justice or judge was eligible to retire and had retired immediately before his death.

(c) The allowance shall be paid until the death of the surviving spouse.

(d) The surviving spouse of a justice or judge who is not receiving benefits from the judges’ retirement fund at the time of the justice’s or judge’s death may elect to take an optional retirement allowance as a surviving annuitant under option 1 of section 1-2001b(1)(a), Idaho Code. Such optional retirement allowance shall be calculated as if the justice or judge was eligible to retire and had retired immediately before his death.

History:

[1-2009, as added by 1965, ch. 308, sec. 5, p. 835; am. 1967, ch. 301, sec. 6, p. 853; am. 1969, ch. 183, sec. 5, p. 543; am. 1974, ch. 244, sec. 2, p. 1618; am. 1983, ch. 144, sec. 3, p. 365; am. 1997, ch. 150, sec. 1, p. 427; am. 2000, ch. 385, sec. 6, p. 1254; am. 2012, ch. 330, sec. 10, p. 920.]