86.280. Death benefit--dependents' allowances. - Missouri Statutes

Death benefit--dependents' allowances.

86.280. Upon the receipt of proper proofs of the death of a member inservice and provided no other benefits are payable under the retirementsystem, there shall be paid the following benefits:

(1) Effective October 1, 1999, a pension to the surviving spouseuntil the surviving spouse dies or remarries, whichever is earlier, offorty percent of the deceased member's average final compensation plusfifteen percent of such compensation to, or for the benefit of, eachunmarried dependent child of the deceased member, who is either under theage of eighteen, or who, regardless of age, is totally and permanentlymentally or physically disabled and incapacitated from engaging in gainfuloccupation sufficient to support himself or herself;

(2) Any surviving spouse or unmarried dependent child receivingbenefits pursuant to the provisions of this section immediately prior toOctober 1, 1999, shall, upon application to the board of trustees, be made,constituted, appointed and employed by the board of trustees as a specialconsultant on the problems of retirement, aging and other matters while thesurviving spouse or unmarried dependent child is receiving such benefits,and upon request of the board of trustees shall give opinions in writing ororally in response to such requests as may be required. Beginning October1, 1999, for such services as may be required, the surviving spouse shallreceive additional monthly compensation in an amount equal to fifteenpercent of the deceased member's average final compensation, and thereshall be payable an additional monthly compensation of one hundred dollarsor five percent of the member's average final compensation, whichever isgreater, for each unmarried dependent child of the member. The additionalmonthly compensation payable to a surviving spouse pursuant to thissubdivision shall be adjusted for any cost-of-living increases that apply,pursuant to subdivision (8) of this section, to the benefit the survivingspouse was receiving prior to October 1, 1999;

(3) If no surviving spouse benefits are payable pursuant tosubdivisions (1) and (2) of this section, such total pension as would havebeen paid pursuant to subdivisions (1) and (2) of this section had therebeen a surviving spouse shall be divided among the unmarried dependentchildren under age eighteen and such unmarried dependent children,regardless of age, who are totally and permanently mentally or physicallydisabled and incapacitated from engaging in a gainful occupation sufficientto support themselves. The benefit shall be divided equally among theeligible dependent children, and the share of a child who is no longereligible shall be divided equally among the remaining eligible dependentchildren; provided that not more than one-half of the surviving spouse'sbenefit shall be paid for one child;

(4) If there is no surviving spouse or dependent children, the returnof accumulated contributions to the designated beneficiary as set forth insection 86.293;

(5) No benefits pursuant to this section shall be paid to a childover eighteen years of age who is totally and permanently disabled if suchchild is a patient or resident of a public-supported institution, nor shallsuch benefits be paid unless such disability occurred prior to such childreaching the age of eighteen;

(6) Wherever any dependent child designated by the board of trusteesto receive benefits pursuant to this section is in the care of thesurviving spouse of the deceased member, such benefits may be paid to suchsurviving spouse for the child;

(7) Any benefit payable to, or for the benefit of, a child orchildren under the age of eighteen years pursuant to subdivisions (1) to(3) of this section shall continue to be paid beyond the age of eighteenyears through the age of twenty-two years if the child is a full-timestudent at a regularly accredited college, business school, nursing school,school for technical or vocational training, or university, but suchextended benefit shall cease whenever the child ceases to be a student. Acollege or university shall be deemed to be regularly accredited whichmaintains membership in good standing in a national or regional accreditingagency recognized by any state college or university;

(8) The benefits payable pursuant to this section to the survivingspouse of a member who died in service after attaining the age offifty-five or completing twenty years of creditable service shall beincreased in the same percentages and pursuant to the same method as isprovided in section 86.253 for adjustments in the service retirementallowance of a retired member.

(L. 1957 p. 256 § 25, A.L. 1961 p. 207, A.L. 1963 p. 137, A.L. 1969 p. 154, A.L. 1995 H.B. 260, et al., A.L. 1999 S.B. 308 & 314, A.L. 2000 H.B. 1808, A.L. 2005 S.B. 401)