(A) The Death Benefit Plan for members of the South Carolina Retirement System, hereinafter referred to as the "plan", is established for the purpose of providing for the payment of the benefits provided by § 9-1-1770.

(B) A separate fund, to be known as the Death Benefit Plan Reserve Fund, is established within the South Carolina Retirement System, hereinafter referred to as the "retirement system", to be held in trust by the board. The fund shall consist of all contributions paid by the employers and other monies received and paid into the fund for death benefit purposes, and of the investment earnings on these monies, and must be used only to pay the death benefits prescribed by subsection (C). Concurrent with the determination of the initial liability of the plan for the balance of the fiscal year on and after the effective date of the benefit, for the death benefit provided and to be paid for pursuant to this plan, there must be segregated and transferred from the Employer Annuity Accumulation Fund of the retirement system to the reserve fund created by this section the amounts determined by the actuary to be necessary to pay anticipated death benefit claims. Subsequent segregations and transfers must be made as required to pay the death benefit prescribed by subsection (C) from the reserve fund provided by this section.

Terms Used In South Carolina Code 9-1-1775

  • Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
  • Board: means the Board of Directors of the South Carolina Public Employee Benefit Authority which shall act under the provisions of this chapter through its Division of Retirement Systems. See South Carolina Code 9-1-10
  • Employer: means this State, a county board of education, a district board of trustees, the board of trustees or other managing board of a state-supported college or educational institution, or any other agency of this State by which a teacher or employee is paid; the term "employer" also includes a county, municipality, or other political subdivision of the State, or an agency or department of any of these, which has been admitted to the system under the provisions of § 9-1-470, a service organization referred to in item (11)(e) of this section, an alcohol and drug abuse planning agency authorized to receive funds pursuant to § 61-12-20, and a local council on aging or other governmental agency providing aging services funded by the Department on Aging. See South Carolina Code 9-1-10
  • 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.
  • Member: means a teacher or employee included in the membership of the system as provided in Article 5 of this chapter. See South Carolina Code 9-1-10
  • Retirement: means the withdrawal from active service with a retirement allowance granted under the system. See South Carolina Code 9-1-10
  • system: means the South Carolina Retirement System established under § 9-1-20. See South Carolina Code 9-1-10

(C) At the death of a member who has met the eligibility requirements set forth in § 9-1-1770, a benefit equal to the death benefit provided by § 9-1-1770 must be paid to the person nominated by the member in accordance with the provisions of § 9-1-1770 or to the member’s estate.

(D) The actuary shall investigate the claim experience of the plan as provided by § 9-1-250. On the basis of these investigations and upon the recommendation of the actuary, as provided in § 9-1-1210, the board shall certify the contribution rates necessary to fund the death benefit authorized to be paid by the plan. As soon as practicable after the close of each fiscal year, the board shall determine the contribution which the employers participating in the plan are required to pay into the reserve fund to discharge the obligations of the plan for the past fiscal year.

(E) Each qualified member of the retirement system is to be covered as provided in this section effective commencing as of June 19, 1973.