2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 24 - GOVERNMENT - STATE (§§ 24-1-101 — 24-116-102) › PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEMS (§§ 24-51-101 — 24-54.8-204) › Article 51 - Public Employees' Retirement Association (§§ 24-51-101 — 24-51-1748) › Part 17 - DENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIVISION (§§ 24-51-1701 — 24-51-1748) › Section 24-51-1737 - Eligible beneficiaries

(1)
Payments under sections
24-51-1736
to
24-51-1746
are limited to:
(a)
(I)
A child, including an adopted child, of the deceased member, so long as the child is living, under the age of eighteen years, and unmarried; except that where an eligible member dies on or after January 1, 1988, the definition of an eligible child shall include:
(A)
An unmarried child under the age of twenty-three years who is enrolled on a full-time basis, within four months of the member's death, in a duly accredited school; or
(B)
An unmarried child, regardless of age, who is found to be so mentally or physically incapacitated that such person is financially dependent upon the member pursuant to the test of financial dependency established for a surviving parent in paragraph (d) of this subsection (1).
(II)
Adoptions involving an otherwise eligible child and occurring subsequent to the death of the member shall terminate the eligibility of such a child, unless such adoption is by the unremarried surviving spouse of the member, and in such a case eligibility of the child shall be terminated by a subsequent remarriage of said surviving spouse.
(b)
The surviving widow or widower of the deceased member who has not remarried and has in her or his care a child eligible to receive benefits as set forth in paragraph (a) of this subsection (1). If benefits are payable under said paragraph (a) or this paragraph (b), the DPS plan document shall govern any amounts due to any unremarried widow or widower.
(c)
The surviving widow or widower who has not remarried, if no benefits are payable or if payable have ceased to any beneficiary qualified under paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection (1).
(d)
A dependent parent of the deceased member who has not remarried since such member's death, so long as such parent is living; except that said parent shall be eligible only if there are no beneficiaries qualified under paragraph (a), (b), or (c) of this subsection (1) at the time of the member's death. Dependence of a surviving parent must be established by a showing to the association beyond reasonable doubt that such parent was dependent upon the deceased member for not less than one-half of the parent's support and actually received such support from the deceased member during the six-month period prior to the death of such member.
(2)
Effective for surviving spouses of members who die on or after January 1, 1984, eligibility for beneficiaries as described in paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of subsection (1) of this section will not be forfeited by remarriage.
(3)
If at the time of the death of the member there is a supplemental needs trust established before or within ninety days after the death of the member for the benefit of the child eligible for survivor benefits, survivor benefits payable pursuant to sections
24-51-1736
to
24-51-1746
to the beneficiary of the supplemental needs trust are payable to the trust so long as that beneficiary is eligible for survivor benefits. If a supplemental needs trust is determined to be invalid or terminates after the association commences payment to the supplemental needs trust, the survivor benefit, from then on, is paid to the beneficiary of the supplemental needs trust so long as that beneficiary is eligible for survivor benefits.
L. 2009: Entire part added, (SB 09 -282), ch. 288, p. 1380, § 56, effective 1/1/2010. L. 2015: (3) added, (SB 15-097), ch. 111, p. 329, § 14, effective April 16.
For the legislative declaration in SB 15-097, see section 1 of chapter 111, Session Laws of Colorado 2015.