Opinion ID: 1843550
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Survivor Benefits

Text: Survivor benefits are paid according to the provisions in La.R.S. 11:762. According to the statute, benefits are paid either to the surviving spouse with minor children, [10] the surviving minor children alone, [11] or the surviving spouse alone. [12] In the event no one qualifies under these provisions, the act provides for a refund of the member's accumulated contributions to either a designated beneficiary or to the member's estate. [13] As there were no minor children at the time of Mr. Wetherspoon's death, benefits were (and continue to be) paid pursuant to La.R.S. 11:762(D), which provides: A surviving spouse without minor children shall be paid per month, for the remainder of his life, the Option 2 equivalent of the benefit amount based on years of service that the member had earned to the date of his death using the two and one-half percent benefit formula; or three hundred dollars per month, whichever is greater, provided the surviving spouse had been married to the deceased member for at least one year prior to death, and provided the deceased member was an active member at the time of death and had ten or more years of service credit, at least two of which were earned immediately prior to death or provided the deceased member had twenty or more years of service credit regardless of when earned or whether the deceased member was in active service at the time of death. As can be seen, survivor benefits are calculated in the exact same manner as retirement benefits under Option 2, the only exception being that the 2½ percent formula is always used in the calculation of survivors benefits. Both retirement benefits and survivor benefits are calculated using the number of years of creditable service, as well as the average earnable compensation of the member. As plaintiff points out, Mr. Wetherspoon's employment during his first community contributed to the number of years of creditable service. Specifically, Mr. Wetherspoon was a member of TRSLA for over eight years while he and plaintiff were married. [14] In addition, Mr. Wetherspoon's salary during the first community was the foundation for his later salary which was used in the determination of his average earnable compensation at the time of his death. Therefore, as stated above, the similarity in which retirement and survivor benefits are calculated reinforces the conclusion that these benefits should be treated in a similar manner when determining the interest in said benefits of a former spouse in community.