N.Y. RSS Law § 655 — New York Code / Act RSS / Article 17 / Section 655
Survivor's benefit
Status: in_force

§ 655. Survivor's benefit. 1. a. The term "state employee" as used in\nthis section shall mean a full time employee or officer of the state,\nwhose salary is paid directly by the state.\n  b. For the limited purposes of this section: (1) the term "state\nemployee" as used in this section include a full time employee or\nofficer of the state colleges of agriculture, home economics, industrial\nlabor relations and veterinary medicine, the state agricultural\nexperiment station at Geneva, and any other institution or agency under\nthe management and control of Cornell university as the representative\nof the board of trustees of the state university of New York, and the\nstate college of ceramics under the management and control of Alfred\nuniversity as the representative of the board of trustees of the state\nuniversity of New York; (2) the payroll from which such employees are\npaid shall be deemed to be a state payroll; and (3) such employees shall\nbe deemed to be paid directly by the state.\n  2. A survivor's benefit shall be payable upon the death of a state\nemployee who has been a state employee for ninety or more days and who\ndies before the effective date of retirement, provided that such\nemployee:\n  a. Was on the state payroll for ninety or more days of the one hundred\ntwenty days immediately prior to his or her death, or\n  b. Had at least one year of service as a state employee and died while\non the payroll following his or her return from an authorized leave of\nabsence, or\n  c. Had at least one but less than five years of service as a state\nemployee since last entering state service and died while off the\npayroll and while on an authorized leave of absence, provided such\nperson was not otherwise gainfully employed since ceasing to be on the\nstate payroll, and provided such person was on the state payroll within\nsix months prior to his or her death, or\n  d. Had five or more years of service as a state employee since last\nentering state service, and died while off the payroll and while on an\nauthorized leave of absence, provided such employee was not otherwise\ngainfully employed since ceasing to be on the state payroll, and\nprovided that such person was on the state payroll within one year prior\nto his or her death.\n  e. For the purpose of determining eligibility for benefits under this\nsection, previous service rendered as an employee of an authority or\ncommission established under the public authorities law shall be\ncredited to a state employee as state service, provided such authority\nor commission has in effect, at the time of death of such employee, a\nprovision for a survivor's benefit which is substantially equivalent to\nthat provided in this section and in which previous state service is\ncredited to authority or commission employees toward eligibility for\nsuch survivor's benefit.\n  f. For the purposes of this subdivision, a state employee holding a\nposition having an annual salary payable over a period of less than\ntwelve months shall be considered to be on the payroll during any period\nin which he would otherwise be on the payroll if the annual salary of\nhis position were paid over the full twelve months. For purposes of\nparagraphs c and d of this subdivision, an employee shall not be deemed\nto have been gainfully employed solely on account of the performance of\nmilitary duty in any capacity in the armed forces of the United States\nor of any reserve thereof or in the national guard.\n  Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law to the contrary and\nsolely for the purpose of determining eligibility for a survivors\nbenefit, a member shall be considered to have died while on the state\npayroll provided such member was on the payroll in the service upon\nwhich membership is based at the time he or she was ordered to active\nduty pursuant to Title 10 of the United States Code, with the armed\nforces of the United States or to service in the uniformed services\npursuant to Chapter 43 of Title 38 of the United States Code and died\nwhile on such active duty or service in the uniformed services on or\nafter June fourteenth, two thousand five.\n  Provided, further, that any such member ordered to active duty\npursuant to Title 10 of the United States Code, with the armed forces of\nthe United States or to service in the uniformed services pursuant to\nChapter 43 of Title 38 of the United States Code who died prior to\nrendering the minimum amount of service necessary to be eligible for\nthis benefit shall be considered to have satisfied the minimum service\nrequirement.\n  3. The survivor's benefit shall be payable from the survivor's benefit\nfund. The survivor's benefit shall be an amount which, when added to the\nordinary death benefit provided under any public pension plan to which\nthe deceased state employee belonged, equals one-half the annual rate of\ncompensation of the state employee as of the date he or she was last on\nthe payroll prior to death; provided, however, that such survivor's\nbenefit, when added to any ordinary death benefit payable from a public\npension plan to which such employee belonged, shall be at least two\nthousand dollars and shall not exceed ten thousand dollars. Any benefit,\nother than an accidental death benefit, payable by a public pension plan\nin lieu of the ordinary death benefit shall, for the purposes of this\nsection, be deemed to be an ordinary death benefit. The portion of any\nordinary death benefit attributable to the\nreserve-for-increased-take-home-pay shall be excluded in computing the\nsurvivor's benefit.\n  4. The survivor's benefit payable under this section shall be paid to\nsuch person or persons as the state employee shall have last nominated\nto receive the ordinary death benefit of the retirement system or\npension plan supported by funds of the state of which such employee last\nbecame a member, or if such employee did not nominate such a\nbeneficiary, or if such beneficiary has died, or if the employee was not\na member of such a retirement system or pension plan, to the person last\nspecifically designated by such employee to receive the survivor's\nbenefit under this section, on a form prescribed by the department of\naudit and control and filed with the department or agency in which such\nemployee was last employed prior to death. In the event such a\ndesignated beneficiary does not survive such employee, or if a\nbeneficiary was not designated, the survivor's benefit shall be payable\nto the estate of the state employee or as provided in section thirteen\nhundred ten of the surrogate's court procedure act.\n  5. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, in the case\nof a state employee on whose account an accidental death benefit is\npayable from a public pension plan to which the employee belonged, and\nregardless of the length of service of the deceased employee, the\nsurvivor's benefit shall be two thousand dollars and shall be payable to\nthe person or persons first receiving the accidental death benefit.\n  6. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, in the case of\nan employee who enters or re-enters state service at sixty-five years of\nage or over, the survivor's benefit shall not be payable unless such\nemployee has completed at least one year of continuous state service\nfollowing such entry or re-entry.\n  7. There is hereby established in the custody of the state comptroller\na special fund to be known as the survivor's benefit fund. Such fund\nshall consist of such moneys as may be appropriated thereto by the\nlegislature and all other moneys received by such fund from any other\nsource pursuant to law. The fund shall be used exclusively for the\npurpose of making survivor's benefit payments pursuant to this section\nand section six hundred fifty-six and section six hundred fifty-seven of\nthis article. Moneys of the fund shall be paid out on the audit and\nwarrant of the state comptroller on vouchers approved by such state\ncomptroller.\n  8. If the survivor's benefit is paid for a deceased employee or\nofficer whose salary or compensation is paid from a special or\nadministrative fund other than the general fund or other than an income\nfund of the state university or other than the mental hygiene services\nfund, the cost of such benefit shall be charged against such other fund\nor funds.  If the amounts appropriated or allocable from such special or\nadministrative fund or funds are insufficient for such purpose, the\ndirector of the budget may allocate such additional sums from such fund\nor funds as may be necessary therefor; provided however, that no\ntransfer shall be made between two or more of such funds. Such amounts\nshall be paid, at such times as required, to the state comptroller and\nshall be credited to the survivor's benefit fund.\n  9. The state comptroller shall prescribe such regulations as may be\nrequired for the effective administration and implementation of the\nprovisions of this section including the establishment of criteria for\ndetermining eligibility of state employees. The state comptroller may\nenter into agreement with other agencies to perform such duties as may\nbe necessary to implement the provisions of this section.\n  10. The provisions of this section shall apply to state employees who\ndie on or after April first, nineteen hundred sixty-two and before July\nfirst, nineteen hundred seventy-four.\n