Texas Government Code 824.503 – Return of Excess Contributions
(a) If a retiree dies while receiving a standard or reduced service retirement annuity as provided by § 824.202 or an optional service retirement annuity as provided by § 824.204(c)(1), (c)(2), or (c)(5) and, in the case of a retiree receiving an optional service retirement annuity, if the retiree’s designated beneficiary of the annuity has predeceased the retiree, the retirement system shall pay a lump-sum death benefit in an amount, if any, by which the amount of the deceased retiree’s accumulated contributions at the time of retirement exceeds the amount of annuity payments made before the retiree’s death.
(b) A benefit under Subsection (a) is payable to any existing designated beneficiary or, if none exists, in the manner provided by § 824.103.
Terms Used In Texas Government Code 824.503
- 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.
- 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
- Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(c) If a retiree’s designated beneficiary dies while receiving an optional annuity under § 824.204(c)(1), (c)(2), or (c)(5), the retirement system shall pay a lump-sum death benefit in an amount, if any, by which the amount of the retiree’s accumulated contributions at the time of retirement exceeds the amount of annuity payments made to the retiree and the designated beneficiary before the beneficiary’s death.
(d) A benefit under Subsection (c) is payable to the person or persons designated as the beneficiary of the beneficiary and, if such person has not been designated or does not survive, then to the persons entitled to distribution of the deceased beneficiary’s estate.
(e) An eligible person may receive benefits under both this section and § 824.501.
(f) The designated beneficiary of a disability retiree is eligible to receive the benefits described by this section if the retiree:
(1) retires on or after September 1, 1992; and
(2) dies while receiving disability retirement benefits under § 824.304.