AB 1844: Judges’ Retirement System II: beneficiaries.

Existing law establishes the Judges Retirement System II, which is administered by the Board of Administration of the Public Employees Retirement System, and provides pension and other benefits to judges who are members. Existing law authorizes a judge to elect one of 4 optional retirement payment plans, with variations, in lieu of receiving the maximum retirement allowance for their life alone. The optional plans provide for a reduced allowance payable to the judge for life and a payment or allowance payable to their surviving spouse, as specified.

Under existing law, the 100 Percent Beneficiary Option 2 with Benefit Allowance Increase consists of the right to have a retirement allowance paid to the judge until the judges death and thereafter to have the same monthly allowance paid to the judges surviving spouse for life, as provided, and the 50 Percent Beneficiary Option 3 with Benefit Allowance Increase consists of the right to have a retirement allowance paid to the judge until the judges death and thereafter to have¹/₂ of the monthly allowance paid to the judges surviving spouse for life, as provided.

This bill would authorize a judge who retires on or after January 1, 2027, to elect to be subject to alternative provisions governing those 4 optional retirement payment plans described above, which would allow a judge to designate a beneficiary, which may or may not include their spouse, to receive the payment or allowance after the judges death. A designation of a beneficiary under these alternative provisions would be subject to the community property rights of the judges spouse. The bill would provide that under these alternative provisions, for the 100 Percent Beneficiary Option 2 with Benefit Allowance Increase and the 50 Percent Beneficiary Option 3 with Benefit Allowance Increase, if a nonspouse beneficiary waives entitlement to the allowance, the judges allowance shall be adjusted effective the first day of the month following the receipt of the waiver to reflect the benefit that would have been paid had the judge not selected an optional settlement. The bill would provide that these two optional retirement payment plans shall not result in additional cost to the employer.

Existing law authorizes the surviving spouse of a judge who died in office, had attained the minimum age for service retirement, with a minimum of 20 years of service, and met other requirements to receive an allowance that is equal to the amount that the judge would have received if the judge had been retired from service on the date of death, as specified.

This bill would remove the requirement that the judge have had a minimum of 20 years of service in order to receive this surviving spouse allowance.

Existing law authorizes the surviving spouse of a retired judge who was receiving a retirement allowance pursuant to specified provisions to receive a monthly allowance equal to 50% of the deceased judges unmodified monthly retirement allowance, as provided.

Under this bill, the surviving spouse of a retired judge who elected to be subject to the alternative provisions described above governing the 4 optional retirement payment plans would receive this surviving spouse allowance only if the spouse was married to the judge continuously from the date of the judges retirement until the date of the judges death.

This bill would make other related and technical changes.