Sec. 19. (a) A participant may designate the participant's surviving spouse or one (1) or more of the participant's surviving dependent children to receive the benefit provided by this section upon the death of the participant. A participant may designate a trust or a custodian account under IC 30-2-8.5 that is established for one (1) or more of the participant's surviving dependent children to receive the benefit provided by this section instead of designating one (1) or more of the participant's surviving dependent children to receive the benefit directly.

(b) If a participant:

(1) dies; and

(2) on the date of death:

(A) was receiving benefits under this chapter;

(B) was in service in a position described in section 8 of this chapter and had completed at least eight (8) years of service in a position described in section 8 of this chapter;

(C) had a permanent disability as described in section 17 of this chapter; or

(D) was not in service in a position described in section 8 of this chapter, had completed at least eight (8) years of service in a position described in section 8 of this chapter, and was entitled to a future benefit;

the participant's beneficiary designated under subsection (a) is entitled, regardless of the participant's age, to the benefit prescribed by subsection (c), (e), or (f).

(c) The amount of the annual benefit payable to a beneficiary to whom subsection (b) applies is equal to the greater of:

(1) twelve thousand dollars ($12,000); or

(2) fifty percent (50%) of the amount of retirement benefit:

(A) the participant was drawing at the time of death; or

(B) to which the participant would have been entitled had the participant retired and begun receiving retirement benefits on the date of death. However, the reduction described in section 16(d) of this chapter does not apply to the calculation of a survivor benefit under this clause.

(d) A benefit payable under this section is subject to the following:

(1) A surviving spouse designated as the beneficiary under subsection (a) is entitled to receive the benefit for life.

(2) The total monthly benefit payable to a surviving child or children is equal to the same monthly benefit that was to have been payable to the surviving spouse.

(3) If there is more than one (1) child designated by the participant, the children are entitled to share the benefit in equal monthly amounts.

(4) A child entitled to a benefit shall receive that child's share until the child becomes eighteen (18) years of age or during the entire period of the child's physical or mental disability, whichever period is longer.

(5) Upon the cessation of benefits to one (1) designated child, if there are one (1) or more other children then surviving and still entitled to benefits, the remaining children shall share the benefit equally. If the surviving spouse of the participant is surviving upon the cessation of benefits to all designated children, the surviving spouse shall then receive the benefit for the remainder of the spouse's life.

(6) The benefit is payable to the participant's surviving spouse if any of the following occur:

(A) No child or children named as a beneficiary by the participant survives or survive the participant.

(B) No child or children designated by the participant is or are entitled to a benefit due to the age of the child or children at the time of death of the participant.

(C) A designation is not made.

(e) Except as provided in subsection (f), benefits payable to a designated beneficiary under this section are reduced by the amount, if any, that is payable to the surviving spouse or the surviving dependent children from the public employees' retirement fund as a result of the participant's death after subtracting the participant's contributions and earnings attributable to the participant's contributions in the participant's annuity savings account.

(f) This subsection applies to a surviving spouse of a participant who is a member of the public employees' defined contribution plan established by IC 5-10.3-12-18. Benefits payable to a surviving spouse of a participant under this section are reduced by the pension portion of the retirement benefit, if any, that would be payable to the spouse from the public employees' retirement fund under the joint and survivor option under IC 5-10.2-4-7, computed at fifty percent (50%) of the participant's decreased retirement benefit, if the participant had not made an election under IC 5-10.3-12-20 to become a member of the public employees' defined contribution plan.

[Pre-2004 Recodification Citation: 33-14-9-17.]

As added by P.L.98-2004, SEC.18. Amended by P.L.33-2006, SEC.3; P.L.54-2013, SEC.6; P.L.160-2013, SEC.8; P.L.27-2019, SEC.26.