Montana Code 19-9-1206. Survivorship benefits
19-9-1206. Survivorship benefits. (1) If a participant dies prior to the receipt of the DROP benefit pursuant to 19-9-1208, the participant’s surviving spouse or dependent child is entitled to receive a lump-sum payment equal to the participant’s DROP benefit as of the date of the member’s death and the benefit the surviving spouse or dependent child would have received under 19-9-804 had the member retired rather than elected to participate in the DROP.
Terms Used In Montana Code 19-9-1206
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
- DROP: means the deferred retirement option plan established pursuant to this part. See Montana Code 19-9-1202
- DROP benefit: means the lump-sum benefit calculated and distributed as provided in this part. See Montana Code 19-9-1202
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Participant: means a member of the retirement system who has elected to participate in the DROP pursuant to this part. See Montana Code 19-9-1202
(2)If there is no surviving spouse or dependent child, the designated beneficiary is entitled to receive a lump-sum payment equal to the participant’s DROP benefit as of the date of the member’s death and the member’s accumulated contributions minus any benefits paid from the member’s account, including monthly DROP payments.
(3)The benefit paid pursuant to this section must include interest credited to the participant’s account as follows:
(a)through June 30, 2009, interest must be credited every fiscal yearend at a rate reflecting the retirement system’s annual investment earnings for the applicable fiscal year;
(b)after June 30, 2009, interest must be credited every fiscal yearend at the actuarially assumed rate of return. Proportionate interest must be credited for distributions taking place at other than a fiscal yearend.