{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-161.525","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 161.525","heading":"Death of member eligible to retire -- Options of beneficiary -- Monthly","body":"minimum allowance to surviving spouse -- Payments to special needs trust.\n(1) Upon death of a member in active contributing status at the time of death, who was\neligible to retire by reason of service, the spouse, if named as the primary\nbeneficiary of the member's retirement account, or in the absence of an eligible\nspouse a legal dependent of the member, if named as the primary beneficiary, shall\nbe entitled to elect, in lieu of a refund of the member's accumulated account balance\nor benefits provided in KRS 161.520, an annuity actuarially equivalent at the\nattained age of the beneficiary to the annuity that would have been paid to the\ndeceased member had retirement b een effective on the day immediately preceding\nthe member's death. Under the provisions of KRS 61.680, benefits shall be\nprocessed as if the member retired for service. In exercising this right the spouse or\nlegal dependent shall be limited to selecting an  option providing either a straight\nlife annuity with refundable balance or a term certain option. A spouse may receive\nthe annuity provided by this section at the same time as children are qualifying for\nsurvivors' benefits under the provisions of KRS 161 .520; however, a legal\ndependent, other than a spouse, may not receive these payments if children have\nqualified for benefits under that section.\n(2) A spouse qualifying for an annuity under subsection (1) of this section may defer\nthe payments in order to reduce the actuarial discounts to be applied due to age.\n(3) Upon death of a member in active contributing status at the time of his or her death,\nwho had a minimum of twenty -seven (27) years of service, the spouse, if named as\nthe primary beneficiary of the member's account shall be entitled to a monthly\nminimum allowance of three hundred dollars ($300) as the basic straight life\nannuity. This provision applies to surviving spouses of members who were\nreceiving benefit payments under KRS 161.520 as of Jun e 30, 1986, and to\nsurviving spouses of members who die on or after July 1, 1986.\n(4) If the surviving spouse or legal dependent eligible for a benefit under subsection (1)\nof this section is the sole beneficiary of a special needs trust, the annuity payme nts\nmade under subsection (1) of this section shall be made payable to the special needs\ntrust.","path":["KRS Chapter 161"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57215","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:10Z","sha256":"769df4cd677d74a92bd9c78ffdad85587b7c2095b326604447623b04b2380126","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-161.522","next":"us-ky/krs-161.530"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}