2023 New Hampshire Revised Statutes › Title VI - Public Officers and Employees › Chapter 100-A - New Hampshire Retirement System › Section 100-A:13 - Optional Allowances.

100-A:13 Optional Allowances. –
I. Any active member; any member who has reached service retirement age as provided in RSA 100-A:5, I(a), or II(a), or RSA 100-A:19-b; any retiree within 120 days after the date of the original notice of retirement provided by the retirement system, not to include any future benefit adjustments that may be carried out by the retirement system relative to a beneficiary's monthly annuity; or any retiree within 120 days after a decision by the board of trustees granting the retiree disability retirement benefits pursuant to RSA 100-A:6, may elect to receive, instead of the retirement allowance otherwise payable, a retirement allowance of equivalent actuarial value under one of the options named in paragraph III, or to redesignate any such option previously elected. When the member or retiree elects to receive an optional retirement allowance under paragraph III, the beneficiary or beneficiaries whom the member or retiree nominates may include the member's spouse and/or children. The notice of non-election, election, or change of retirement option shall be on a form designated by the board, which, if the member or retiree is married, shall include a spousal acknowledgment. The optional allowance shall be effective upon retirement if the election is made before the effective date of retirement, and on the first day of the month following receipt by the board of the notice of election or change of option if made during a 120-day grace period. When an election or change of option is made during a 120-day grace period, no retroactive adjustments will be made in payments already received by the retiree. When an election or change of option is made within 120 days after a decision by the board of trustees granting the retiree disability retirement benefits, the optional allowance shall be calculated using retiree and beneficiary age factors applicable as of the first day of the month following receipt by the board of the notice of election or change in option. After expiration of the 120-day grace period no change in option selection shall be permitted except as provided in paragraph II. If a retiree dies after filing notice of election or change of option during the 120-day grace period but before the effective date, the election or change shall be effective as of the date of death. If a member dies after filing an election for a survivorship retirement option and before the effective date of retirement, whether or not the member has filed for retirement, the beneficiary who was nominated by the member in the election of the option may elect to receive either the optional survivor benefit which the member had elected or the ordinary death benefit provided under RSA 100-A:9, whichever is more advantageous to the beneficiary; provided that, in the case of the member's death before retirement, if the beneficiary named in the survivorship option election is not the same person as the beneficiary under RSA 100-A:9, then the death benefit under RSA 100-A:9, II, and not the survivorship option shall apply.
II. (a) Any retired member who has elected option 2, 3, or 4, and whose beneficiary nominated by the retiree under such option was the retiree's spouse at the time of such election, may:
(1) Terminate such elected option upon the issuance of a divorce decree and subsequent remarriage of the former spouse, or in accordance with the terms of the final divorce decree or final settlement agreement which provides that the former spouse shall renounce any claim to a retirement allowance under RSA 100-A. Upon termination, the allowance received under the elected option shall be converted to the retirement allowance that would have been payable in the absence of such election. Any supplemental allowance, or COLAs, granted to the retiree and effective before the date of termination of the option shall continue in effect and shall not be adjusted as a result of the termination. Notice of such termination shall be given by the retiree on a form designated by the board. Payment of the converted allowance shall commence on the first day of the month following receipt of termination by the board. For any retiree whose divorce and the subsequent remarriage of the former spouse occurred on or before July 1, 1990, the notice shall be given to the board on or before October 1, 1990. Said termination action shall become effective on the first day of the month following receipt of such notice by the board. If the retiree dies after giving valid notice of such termination but before the effective date, the option shall terminate as of the date of the retiree's death.
(2) Following the retiree's subsequent remarriage, elect to nominate the current spouse as beneficiary under one of the options named in paragraph III, due to either the death of a former spouse, the termination of an elected option under subparagraph (1), or the termination of an elected option by a former spouse under subparagraph II(b). The notice of election shall be on a form designated by the board. The optional allowance shall be effective the first of the month following receipt of the notice. If a retiree dies after filing such notice but before the effective date, the change shall be effective as of the date of death. The optional allowance shall be of equivalent actuarial value. Any supplemental allowances, or COLAs, granted to the retiree before the effective date of the election shall terminate on such effective date, but the value of such COLA's shall be included in the actuarial determination of the amount of the allowance payable under the elected option.
(b) Where a retired member has elected option 2, 3, or 4, and has designated a single beneficiary, the beneficiary may at any time voluntarily renounce his or her right to any future benefits by signing and filing with the board a form designated by the board. Upon such renunciation, the allowance received under the elected option shall be converted to the retirement allowance that would have been payable in the absence of such election. Any supplemental allowance, or COLAs, granted to the retiree and effective before the date of renunciation of the option shall continue in effect and shall not be adjusted as a result of the renunciation. The renunciation shall become effective, and payment of the converted allowance shall commence, on the first day of the month following receipt of the signed form by the board. If the retiree dies after the board's receipt of such renunciation but before the effective date, the option shall terminate as of the date of the retiree's death.
(c) Any retired member who has elected option 2, 3, or 4, and has designated a single, non-spouse beneficiary, may at any time prior to the death of the beneficiary terminate such elected option without the consent of the beneficiary by signing and filing with the board a form designated by the board. Upon termination, the allowance received under the elected option shall be converted to the retirement allowance that would have been payable in the absence of such election. Any supplemental allowance, or COLAs, granted to the retiree and effective before the date of termination of the option shall continue in effect and shall not be adjusted as a result of the termination. Such termination shall become effective, and payment of the converted allowance shall commence, on the first day of the month following receipt of such form by the board. If the retiree dies after giving notice of such termination but before the effective date, the notice shall be deemed valid, the previously elected option shall terminate as of the date of the retiree's death, and no survivor annuity shall be paid pursuant to the previously elected option.
III. The options, each of which shall be of equivalent actuarial value to the allowance payable in the absence of election of an option, are:
Option 1. A reduced retirement allowance payable during the retired member's life, with the provision that at the member's death a lump sum equal in amount to the difference between the accumulated contributions at the time of retirement and the sum of the member annuity payments made to the member during the member's lifetime shall be paid to the beneficiaries or contingent beneficiaries, if any, nominated by written designation duly acknowledged and filed with the board of trustees if such beneficiaries or contingent beneficiaries survive the member, otherwise to the retired member's estate.
Option 2. A reduced retirement allowance payable during the retired member's life, with the provision that it shall continue after the member's death for the life of, and to, the beneficiary nominated by written designation duly acknowledged and filed with the board of trustees at the time of retirement, or as provided in subparagraph II(a)(2).
Option 3. A reduced retirement allowance payable during the retired member's life, with the provision that it shall continue after death at
1/2 the rate paid to the member and be paid for the life of, and to, the beneficiary nominated by written designation duly acknowledged and filed with the board of trustees at the time of retirement, or as provided in subparagraph II(a)(2).
Option 4. A reduced retirement allowance payable during the retired member's life, with some other benefit payable after death, provided that such other benefit shall be approved by the board of trustees, or a reduced retirement allowance payable during the retired member's life, with some other benefit payable after death, pursuant to the provisions of subparagraph II(a)(2).
Source.
1967, 134:1. 1969, 474:1. 1977, 546:3. 1983, 222:1; 310:1. 1990, 251:1. 1992, 166:1. 1999, 181:1. 2000, 120:3; 129:1. 2001, 175:1, 2, eff. Sept. 3, 2001; 275:7, eff. July 1, 2001. 2016, 292:1, 2, eff. Aug. 20, 2016. 2018, 101:1, eff. July 24, 2018. 2022, 76:1, eff. July 19, 2022.