(a)  Spouse’s and domestic partner’s benefits are payable following the decease of a member as provided in §§?16-16-25 — 16-16-38.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 16-16-26

  • Member: means any person included in the membership of the retirement system under the provisions of this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-16-1
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Spouse: means the surviving person who was married to a deceased member, but only if the surviving person meets one of the following conditions:

    (i)  Was married to the deceased member for not less than one year immediately prior to the date on which the member died;

    (ii)  Is the mother or father of the deceased member's child(ren);

    (iii)  Legally adopted the deceased member's child(ren) while married to the deceased member and while the child(ren) was under the age of eighteen (18) years; or

    (iv)  Was married to the deceased member at the time both of them legally adopted a child(ren) under the age of eighteen (18) years. See Rhode Island General Laws 16-16-1

(b)  The spouse or domestic partner shall be entitled to benefits upon attaining the age of sixty (60) years.

(c)  The spouse or domestic partner was living with the deceased member at the time of the member’s death. A spouse or domestic partner is deemed to have been living with the deceased member if they were both members of the same household on the date of the deceased member’s death, or the spouse or domestic partner was receiving regular contributions from the deceased member toward support on that date, or the deceased member had been ordered by a court to contribute to the spouse’s or domestic partner’s support.

(d)  Remarriage of the spouse or domestic partner or establishment of a domestic partnership shall render him or her ineligible to receive current or future benefits under this section.

(e)  The spouse or domestic partner of a member, as defined in this section, shall be entitled to monthly benefits payable in accordance with the following table:

    Spouse‘s or Domestic
  Highest Annual Partner’s Monthly
     Salary Minimum Benefit
  $17,000 or less $825
  $17,001 to $25,000 $963
  $25,001 to $33,000 $1,100
  $33,001 to $40,000 $1,238
  $40,001 and over $1,375

(f)  A yearly cost-of-living adjustment for spouse’s or domestic partner’s benefits shall be based on the annual social security adjustment.

History of Section.
P.L. 1962, ch. 212, § 3; P.L. 1974, ch. 254, § 1; P.L. 1983, ch. 217, § 1; P.L. 1985, ch. 248, § 1; P.L. 1987, ch. 590, § 1; P.L. 1996, ch. 295, § 1; P.L. 2004, ch. 547, § 1; P.L. 2007, ch. 510, § 6; P.L. 2017, ch. 412, § 1; P.L. 2017, ch. 413, § 1.