2023 Texas Statutes › Vernon's Civil Statutes › Title 109 - Pensions › Article 6243h. Municipal Pension System in Cities of 1,500,000 or More › Section 14. Surviving Spouse and Dependent Child Monthly Allowance

Sec. 14.  SURVIVING SPOUSE AND DEPENDENT CHILD MONTHLY ALLOWANCE.  (a)  Except as provided by Section 11 or 12 of this Act, the pension board shall order survivor benefits to be paid to an eligible survivor in the form of a monthly allowance under this section if:
(1)  a member or former member of group A or group B dies from any cause after the completion of five years of credited service with the city or the pension system;
(2)  while in the service of the city or the pension system, a member dies from any cause directly resulting from a specific incident in the performance of the member's duty;
(3)  a member of group A or group B dies after the date the member retires on a pension because of length of service or a disability and the member leaves an eligible survivor; or
(4)  a member of group D dies from any cause after the completion of five years of credited service with the city or the pension system if the member on the date of the member's death was still in service with the city or the pension system.
(b)  A surviving spouse of a member described by Subsection (a)(1) or (4) of this section who dies while still in service with the city or the pension system is eligible for a sum equal to the following applicable percentage of the retirement benefits to which the deceased member or former member would have been eligible had the member been totally disabled with an ordinary disability at the time of the member's last day of credited service:
(1)  80 percent, if the member's death occurs on or after the year 2017 effective date and the spouse was married to the member for at least one continuous year as of the member's date of death, except that the allowance payable to the surviving spouse may not be less than $100 a month; or
(2)  50 percent, if the member's death occurs on or after the year 2017 effective date and the spouse was married to the member for less than one continuous year as of the date of the member's death.
(b-1)  A surviving spouse of a former member described by Subsection (a)(1) of this section who dies on or after the year 2017 effective date while not in the service of the city or the pension system and before the member's retirement commenced, is eligible for a sum equal to 50 percent of the deceased former member's normal accrued pension at the time of the deceased former member's last day of credited service.  Benefits under this subsection first become payable on the date the former member would have become eligible to begin receiving a pension.  If the surviving spouse elects for earlier payment, in a time and manner determined by the pension board, the actuarial equivalent of that amount shall be payable at that earlier date.
(c)  A surviving spouse of a member described by Subsection (a)(2) of this section who dies from a cause directly resulting from a specific incident in the performance of the member's duty with the city or the pension system, without serious or wilful misconduct on the member's part, is eligible for a sum equal to 80 percent of the deceased member's final average salary.
(d)  A surviving spouse of a retiree described by Subsection (a)(3) of this section who dies after having received retirement benefits is eligible for a sum equal to the following applicable percentage of the retirement benefits being received at the time of the retiree's death, including any applicable cost-of-living adjustment in the survivor benefit under Section 10(h) of this Act computed based on the unadjusted normal retirement pension of the deceased retiree:
(1)  80 percent, if the retiree's death occurs on or after the year 2017 effective date and the retiree separated from service with the city or pension system before the year 2017 effective date;
(2)  80 percent, if the retiree's death occurs on or after the year 2017 effective date and the retiree separated from service with the city or pension system on or after the year 2017 effective date, provided the surviving spouse was married to the retiree at the time of the retiree's death and for at least one continuous year as of the date of the retiree's separation from service; or
(3)  50 percent, if both the retiree's separation from service and death occur on or after the year 2017 effective date and the surviving spouse was married to the retiree at the time of the retiree's death for less than one continuous year as of the date of the retiree's separation from service.
(e)  If there is a surviving spouse, each dependent child shall receive a survivor benefit equal to 10 percent of the pension the member would have received if the member had been disabled at the time of death up to a maximum of 20 percent for all dependent children, except that if the total amount payable to the surviving spouse and dependent children is greater than 80 percent of the benefit the member would have received, the percentage of benefits payable to the surviving spouse shall be reduced so that the total amount is not greater than 80 percent of the benefit the member would have received, and the reduction shall continue until the total amount payable to the surviving spouse and dependent child, if any, would not be greater than 80 percent of the benefit the member would have received.
(f)  If there is no surviving spouse, each dependent child is eligible to receive a survivor benefit equal to 50 percent of the amount of the surviving spouse benefit had there been a surviving spouse, not to exceed 100 percent of the surviving spouse benefit for all dependent children in the aggregate.
(g)  Benefits for a dependent child are payable to the guardian of the child, except that the pension board may approve the payment of benefits to a child who is at least 18 years of age.  As used in this subsection, "guardian" means the person who has the primary responsibility for a child's care and support, including the surviving parent, a legal guardian, a managing conservator, or any other person with a similar legal relationship to the child.
(h)  If a retiree dies and there is no eligible survivor, the retiree's spouse, if any, or if there is no spouse, the retiree's estate, is eligible to receive a lump-sum payment of the unamortized balance of the retiree's accrued employee contributions, if any, other than contributions after the DROP entry date, as determined by an amortization schedule and method approved by the pension board.  A pension payable to a retiree ceases on the last day of the month of the retiree's death.  A survivor benefit payable to an eligible survivor is effective on the first day of the month following the month of the retiree's death and ceases on the last day of the month of the eligible survivor's death or on the last day of the month in which the survivor otherwise ceases to be eligible to receive a survivor's benefit.