(a) Except as provided by Subsections (b) and (d), the effective date of a member’s service retirement is the date the member designates at the time the member applies for retirement under Section 854.101, but the date must be the last day of a calendar month and may not precede the date the member terminates employment with all participating municipalities.
(b) If a member dies before retirement and an annuity becomes payable under Section 854.105, the member is considered to have retired on the last day of the month immediately preceding the month in which death occurred, except as provided by Subsection (e).

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Terms Used In Texas Government Code 854.003

  • 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.
  • Month: means a calendar month. See Texas Government Code 312.011
  • 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
  • Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005

(c) Except as provided by Subsections (b) and (d), the effective date of a member’s disability retirement is the date designated on the application for retirement filed by or for the member as provided by Section 854.301, but the date must be the last day of a calendar month and may not precede the date the member terminates employment with all participating municipalities.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subtitle, each distribution of a benefit under this subtitle must be determined and made in accordance with Section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and its subsequent amendments, including the minimum incidental death benefit requirements of Section 401(a)(9)(G) of that code. The board of trustees may adopt rules it determines necessary to comply with the distribution requirements, including rules under which a person is considered to have retired as a result of those requirements.
(e) If the person who is eligible to receive an annuity under Subsection (b) is the member’s surviving spouse, the person may elect, by notifying the retirement system not later than the 180th day after the date of the member’s death, to leave the member’s accumulated contributions on deposit with the retirement system until the date the member would have been eligible for service retirement. If a surviving spouse makes an election under this subsection, the deceased member is considered to have retired on the last day of the month in which the member would have attained an age for service retirement eligibility. An election under this subsection is revocable before the payment of the first annuity payment by filing a written application approved by the board of trustees to receive the member’s accumulated contributions.