Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

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40 ILCS 5/15-136.4

(40 ILCS 5/15-136.4)

Sec. 15-136.4.

Retirement and Survivor Benefits Under Portable
Benefit Package.

(a) This Section 15-136.4 describes the form of annuity and survivor
benefits available to a participant who has elected the portable benefit
package and has completed the one-year waiting period required under subsection
(e) of Section 15-134.5.  For purposes of this Section, the term
"eligible spouse" means the husband or wife of a participant to whom the
participant is married on the date the participant's annuity
payment period begins, provided however, that if the participant should die prior
to the commencement of retirement annuity benefits, then "eligible spouse"
means the husband or wife, if any, to whom
the participant was married throughout the one-year period preceding the date
of his or her death.

(b) This subsection (b) describes the normal form of annuity payable
to a participant subject to this Section 15-136.4.  If the participant is
unmarried on the date his or her annuity payment period begins, then the annuity
payments shall be made in the form of a single-life annuity as described in
Section 15-118.  If the participant is married on the date his or her annuity
payments commence, then the annuity payments shall be paid in the form of a
qualified joint and survivor annuity that is the actuarial equivalent of the
single-life annuity.  Under the "qualified joint and survivor annuity", a
reduced amount shall be paid to the participant for his or her lifetime and his
or her eligible spouse, if surviving at the participant's death, shall be
entitled to receive thereafter a lifetime survivorship annuity in a monthly
amount equal to 50% of the reduced monthly amount that was payable to the
participant.  The last payment of a qualified joint and survivor annuity shall
be made as of the first day of the month in which the death of the survivor
occurs.

(c) Instead of the normal form of annuity that would be paid under
subsection (b), a participant may elect in writing within the 180-day period
prior to the date his or her annuity payments commence to waive the normal form
of annuity payment and receive an optional form of payment as described in
subsection (h).  If the participant is married and elects an optional form of
payment under subsection (h) other than a joint and survivor annuity with the
eligible spouse designated as the contingent annuitant, then such election
shall require the consent of his or her eligible spouse in the manner described
in subsection (d).  At any time during the 180-day period preceding the date the
participant's payment period begins, the participant may revoke the optional form
of payment elected under this subsection (c) and reinstate coverage under the qualified
joint and survivor annuity without the spouse's consent, but an election to
revoke the optional form elected and elect a new optional form of payment or designate a
different contingent annuitant shall not be effective without the eligible
spouse's consent.

(d) The eligible spouse's consent to any election made
pursuant to this Section that requires the eligible spouse's consent shall be
in writing and shall acknowledge the effect of the consent.  In addition, the
eligible spouse's signature on the written consent must be witnessed by a
notary public.  The eligible spouse's consent need not be obtained if the
system is satisfied that there is no eligible spouse, that the eligible spouse
cannot be located, or because of any other relevant circumstances.  An eligible
spouse's consent under this Section is valid only with respect to the specified
optional form of payment and, if applicable, contingent
annuitant designated by the participant.  If the optional form of payment or
the contingent annuitant is subsequently changed (other than
by a revocation of the optional form of payment and reinstatement of the qualified joint
and survivor annuity), a new consent by the eligible spouse is required.  The
eligible spouse's consent to an election made by a participant pursuant to this
Section, once made, may not be revoked by the eligible spouse.

(e) Within a reasonable period of time preceding the date a
participant's annuity commences, a participant shall be supplied with a written
explanation of (1) the terms and conditions of the normal form single-life
annuity and qualified joint and survivor annuity, (2) the
participant's right to elect a single-life annuity or an optional
form of payment under subsection (h) subject to his or her eligible
spouse's consent, if applicable, and (3) the participant's right to
reinstate coverage under the qualified joint and survivor annuity
prior to his or her annuity commencement date by revoking an election of an
optional form of payment under subsection (h).

(f) If a married participant with at least 1.5 years of
service dies prior to commencing retirement annuity payments and prior to
taking a refund under Section 15-154, his or her eligible spouse is entitled
to receive a pre-retirement survivor annuity, if there is not then in effect
a waiver of the pre-retirement survivor annuity.  The pre-retirement survivor
annuity payable under this subsection shall be a monthly annuity payable for
the eligible spouse's life, commencing as of the beginning of the month next
following the later of the date of the participant's death or the date the
participant would have first met the eligibility requirements for retirement,
and continuing through the beginning of the month in which the death of the
eligible spouse occurs.  The monthly amount payable to the spouse under the
pre-retirement survivor annuity shall be equal to the monthly
amount that would be payable as a survivor annuity under the qualified joint
and survivor annuity described in subsection (b) if: (1) in the case of a
participant who dies on or after the date on which the participant has
met the eligibility requirements for retirement, the participant had retired
with an immediate qualified joint and
survivor annuity on the day before the participant's date  of death; or (2) in
the case of a participant who dies before the earliest date on
which the participant would have met the eligibility requirements for retirement age, the participant had separated from
service on the date of death, survived to the earliest retirement age based
on service prior to his or her death, retired with an immediate qualified
joint and survivor annuity at the earliest retirement age, and died on the day
after the day on which the participant would have attained the earliest
retirement age.

(g) A married participant who has not retired may elect at any time to
waive the pre-retirement survivor annuity described in subsection (f).  Any
such election shall require the consent of the participant's eligible spouse
in the manner described in subsection (d).  A waiver of the pre-retirement
survivor annuity shall increase the lump sum death benefit payable under
subsection (b) of Section 15-141.  Prior to electing any waiver of the
pre-retirement survivor annuity, the participant shall be provided with a
written explanation of (1) the terms and conditions of the pre-retirement
survivor annuity and the death benefits payable from the system both with and
without the pre-retirement survivor annuity, (2) the participant's right to
elect a waiver of the pre-retirement survivor annuity coverage subject to his
or her spouse's consent, and (3) the participant's right to reinstate
pre-retirement survivor annuity coverage at any time by revoking a prior waiver
of such coverage.

(h) By filing a timely election with the system, a participant who will
be eligible to receive a retirement annuity under this Section may waive the
normal form of annuity payment described in subsection (b), subject to
obtaining the consent of his or her eligible spouse, if applicable, and elect
to receive any one of the following optional forms of payment:

(1) Joint and Survivor Annuity Options: The

participant may elect to receive a reduced annuity payable for his or her life and to have a lifetime survivorship annuity in a monthly amount equal to 50%, 75%, or 100% (as elected by the participant) of that reduced monthly amount, to be paid after the participant's death to his or her contingent annuitant, if the contingent annuitant is alive at the time of the participant's death.

(2) Single-Life Annuity Option (optional for married

participants). The participant may elect to receive a single-life annuity payable for his or her life only.

(3) Lump sum retirement benefit. The participant may

elect to receive a lump sum retirement benefit that is equal to the amount of a refund payable under Section 15-154(a-2).

All joint and survivor annuity forms shall be in an amount that is the actuarial
equivalent of the single-life annuity.

For the purposes of this Section, the term "contingent annuitant" means the
beneficiary who is designated by a participant at the time the participant
elects a joint and survivor annuity to receive the lifetime survivorship
annuity in the event the beneficiary survives the participant at the
participant's death.

(i) Under no circumstances may an option be elected, changed, or revoked
after the date the participant's retirement annuity commences.

(j) An election made pursuant to subsection (h)
shall become inoperative if the participant or the
contingent annuitant dies before the date the participant's annuity payments
commence, or if the eligible spouse's consent is required and not given.

(k) (Blank).

(l) The automatic annual increases described in subsection (d) of Section
15-136 shall apply to retirement benefits under the portable benefit package
and the automatic annual increases described in subsection (j) of Section
15-145 shall apply to survivor benefits under the portable benefit package.

(Source: P.A. 96-586, eff. 8-18-09; 97-933, eff. 8-10-12; 97-968, eff. 8-16-12.)