Arkansas Administrative Code
Agency 088 - Arkansas Teacher Retirement System
Rule 088.00.14-002 - Rule 11-1: Survivor Benefits
Universal Citation: AR Admin Rules 088.00.14-002
Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 9, September, 2024
RULE 11-1 SURVIVOR BENEFITS
A.C.A. §§ 24-7-710, 713
I.
GENERAL: See A.C.A §
24-7-710
for Survivor Benefit Rules.
A. Benefits
may be provided to dependents of qualifying members after the death of the
member. To qualify, a member must have five (5) years of actual service and be
an active member at the time of death.
B. ATRS considers a member to be active for
the purpose of qualifying for survivor benefits under A.C.A. §
24-7-710
and if:
i. The member has at least ten (10)
days of service credit in each prior quarter of the fiscal year from the time
the fiscal year began or the member was employed by an ATRS employer, whichever
occurs last, provided however, the member must have at least one quarter with
ten (10) days of service; or
ii.
The member has at least ten (10) days of service in the quarter of the member's
death, or, ten (10) working days have not elapsed in the quarter of the
member's death.
II.
SPOUSAL BENEFITS
A. The benefits provided for in A.C.A. §
24-7-710, plus the monthly stipend under A.C.A. §
24-7-713 shall be paid
to the spouse of the qualifying member if the spouse survives the member and
was married to the member for at least two (2) years immediately prior to the
member's death.
B.
i If at the time of the member's death there
are no dependent children eligible to receive a dependent child annuity, a
surviving spouse who qualifies to receive a surviving spouse annuity may file
with ATRS a waiver of any rights to the spousal annuity.
ii. If the surviving spouse files a waiver of
the spousal annuity, then the deceased member's residue beneficiary(ies) will
receive a single distribution of the member's residue amount, if any.
C.
i. The spousal annuity is payable for the
spouse's lifetime, regardless of remarriage, pursuant to A.C.A. §
24-7-710.
ii. The spouse may defer
receipt of the annuity, ,if applicable, under the deferred retirements
provisions of A.C.A. §
24-7-707.
III.
DEPENDENT CHILDREN BENEFITS
A. Surviving dependent children of the member
shall receive an annuity under A.C.A. §
24-7-710 and a cost of living
adjustment, as may be designated by the Board.
B. There are certain additional limitations
on the amount of annuity payable to a dependent child if the member has
multiple dependents. A.C.A. §
24-7-710.
i. "Child" is defined under A.C.A. §
24-7-202, and for purposes of receiving an annuity from ATRS, the child must be
a dependent child in accordance with §
24-7-710. While a surviving
dependent child's benefits normally cease once the child reaches eighteen (18)
years of age, there are circumstances where the child may continue to receive
benefits. These include:
a. A full-time
student. A full-time student is defined as one carrying 12 semester hours or 8
trimester hours in college, four (4) hours per day in a secondary or
postsecondary school, or other verifiable indices from an accredited
institution that the dependent child is engaged in full time curriculum or
field of study. Certification of attendance in an accredited school may be
reported by the dependent child in the absence of a parent or legal guardian
after the dependent child reaches age 18.
b. For a child receiving a dependent child
annuity age 18 or older who is temporarily physically or mentally
incapacitated, the Board may continue paying benefits upon receipt of a
doctor's certification that the child is temporarily physically or mentally
incapacitated, and is unable to attend school for the period of one semester or
term. At the beginning of the next semester or term, if the child does not
reenter school fulltime, the dependent child annuity will terminate.
C. A child who is
adjudged physically or mentally incapacitated by a court of competent
jurisdiction. Such a child continues to be eligible to receive a dependent
child annuity as long as the incapacity exists, regardless of age. A.C.A.
§
24-7-710.
D. A dependent
child annuity remains at its initial monthly amount, adjusted only by a COLA
increase, and is not readjusted when the member's other dependent child or
children's annuities terminate.
E.
A dependent child annuity is paid as a separate payment to each child monthly,
rather than one lump-sum check payable to the spouse or custodian. Deposit
accounts designated to receive survivor annuity payments to a child under age
18 shall conform with the Arkansas Uniform Transfers to Minors Act or court
order in a guardianship.
IV.
GENERAL RULES REGARDING SURVIVOR
ANNUITIES
A. Survivors are required to
produce sufficient proof of eligibility under these provisions prior to
receiving benefit payments.
B. ATRS
will notify survivors who may be eligible for a survivor's benefit at the last
address on file at ATRS. (See also ATRS Rule 11-5 Lost Payees).
C. If the member dies before receipt of the
first disability retirement check but after receiving final approval for
disability retirement, the benefits will be paid under the disability
retirement option selected by the member.
D. If the member dies after the disability
application is received by ATRS but before disability retirement is approved,
then ATRS shall consider the member to have died in "active" service and
survivor benefits under A.C.A. §
24-7-710 shall be paid.
E. For the purposes of determining child
survivor benefits, the member's salary shall be the salary that the member
would have received in the fiscal year in which he/she died had the member
lived through the end of the fiscal year, if the member's high salary occurred
in the year the member died.
F.
Salary payments made after the death of a member that were earned prior to
death are subject to ATRS deductions and shall be reported in total salary and
days of service in the employer's quarterly report. Payments made by an
employer after the death of an active member that are made as a mere gratuity
and were not earned by the member shall not be included in the member's salary
reported to ATRS and are not subject to contributions.
G. If survivor benefits are payable by more
than one reciprocal system to eligible survivors of a deceased member, the
survivors shall not receive more as a percentage of the deceased member's final
pay or as a minimum dollar amount than the largest amount payable by a single,
reciprocal system. ATRS will prorate minimum benefits payable with any other
reciprocal systems that have a minimum benefit provision in its plan. Each
reciprocal system shall pay only its proportionate share of the minimum amount
based on the ratio of service in its system to the total service in all
reciprocal systems.
H. When the
member elects to transfer from ATRS to APERS under the provisions of Act 793 of
1977, APERS' law governs the survivors' eligibility for a payment of residue or
survivor benefits upon the member's death
Amended: June 15, 2004
February 7, 2006
April 26, 2007
December 18, 2009
July 1, 2011 (Emergency)
Adopted: August 8, 2011
Effective: November 11, 2011
Approved by Board:August 6, 2012
Amended: October 13, 2012
Effective : March 6, 2013
Approved by Board : July 26, 2013
Amended: October 9, 2013
Effective: November 8, 2013
Approved by Board: December 1, 2014
Amended: May 18, 2015
Effective : June 16, 2015
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