Bill Text: CA AB1824 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: County employees' retirement: optional settlements revision.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2014-09-28 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 726, Statutes of 2014. [AB1824 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB1824-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1824 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 726
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2014
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 28, 2014
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 25, 2014
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY MAY 23, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Rendon
FEBRUARY 18, 2014
An act to add Section 31760.8 to the Government Code, relating to
county employees' retirement.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1824, Rendon. County employees' retirement: optional
settlements revision.
The County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 permits a member or
retired member of a retirement system established pursuant to its
provisions, prior to the time that the first payment of any
retirement allowance is made, to elect certain optional settlements,
which operate to reduce the allowance payable to the member through
his or her life and provide for a subsequent payment to another party
or parties, including his or her spouse. Existing law authorizes a
person to revoke a beneficiary nomination at his or her pleasure and
nominate a different beneficiary, except for a nomination made under
3 specified optional settlements.
This bill, upon adoption by a county, would permit a retired
member to revise the designated beneficiary for those specified
optional settlements if, at retirement, the retired member was
unmarried or had been married less than one year, the retired member
had retired before the county adopted other specified optional
retirement settlements, and the application to revise includes the
signature of the designated beneficiary of the optional settlement or
a written declaration, as specified. The bill would provide a civil
penalty for a person who knowingly provides false information in the
declaration, to be brought at the option of a public prosecutor. The
bill would also require, if the designated beneficiary of the
optional settlement is a spouse or domestic partner of the member,
that the application for revision evidence that person's agreement to
the revision. The bill would require, pursuant to this revision, the
retired member's allowance to remain the same as provided by the
optional settlement, adjusted for any cost-of-living increases that
have been added to the retirement allowance. The bill would provide
that the retirement system has no obligation to locate or otherwise
contact retired members who may qualify for a revision. The bill
would provide that any actions taken, as described above, do not
excuse the obligation of a member to provide a continuing benefit to
a former spouse pursuant to court order.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 31760.8 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
31760.8. (a) Notwithstanding Section 31782, a retired member, in
order to provide for his or her spouse, shall be entitled to revise
the designated beneficiary of an optional settlement elected pursuant
to Section 31762, 31763, or 31764 at the time of retirement, if all
of the following criteria are satisfied:
(1) The member retired on or before the date the board made
Section 31760.2, 31785.1, or 31786.1 applicable in the county.
(2) At retirement, the member was unmarried or had been married
less than one year.
(3) The member's spouse is at least 55 years of age and is older
than the originally designated beneficiary.
(4) The member's application satisfies the requirements described
in subdivisions (b) and (c).
(b) (1) An application for a revision of an optional settlement
pursuant to this section shall include the signature of the
designated beneficiary of the optional settlement acknowledging the
revision or shall include a written declaration of one or more of the
following as may be applicable to the member:
(A) The beneficiary has no identifiable community property
interest in the benefit.
(B) The member does not know, and has taken all reasonable steps
to determine, the whereabouts of the beneficiary.
(C) The beneficiary has been advised of the application and has
refused to sign the written acknowledgment.
(D) The beneficiary is incapable of executing the acknowledgment
because of an incapacitating mental or physical condition.
(2) The purpose of this subdivision is to notify the beneficiary
of the revision of an optional settlement made by a member that may
affect the entitlement of the beneficiary.
(3) A person who knowingly provides false information in the
written declaration submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
subject to a civil penalty of not less than one thousand dollars
($1,000) and not more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), in
addition to any civil remedies available to the board. An action to
impose a civil penalty pursuant to this paragraph may be brought by
any public prosecutor in the name of the people of the state.
(c) In addition to the requirements of subdivision (b), if the
originally designated beneficiary of the optional settlement is a
former spouse or domestic partner of the member, the application for
revision of an optional settlement shall also evidence agreement to
the revision by the former spouse or domestic partner.
(d) After revision, the member's retirement allowance shall remain
the same as provided by the optional settlement, adjusted by any
cost-of-living increases that have been added to the retirement
allowance.
(e) The retirement system has no obligation to locate or otherwise
contact retired members who may qualify for a revision under this
section.
(f) No actions taken pursuant to this section excuse the
obligation of a member to provide a continuing benefit to a former
spouse or other person pursuant to court order.
(g) This section is not applicable in any county until the board
of retirement, by resolution adopted by a majority vote, makes this
section applicable in the county. The board's resolution may
designate a date, which may be prior or subsequent to the date of the
resolution, as of which the resolution and this section shall be
operative in the county.
