(a) When a member of the fund dies subsequent to retirement from active employment with the city, the surviving spouse shall be entitled to receive (in addition to benefits provided by the fund a lump-sum payment of $5,000). If the deceased member leaves no surviving spouse and has filed a valid beneficiary designation card with the retirement office naming a surviving designated beneficiary, a lump-sum payment of $5,000 shall be made in full to said surviving designated beneficiary. Upon written request by the surviving spouse or surviving designated beneficiary after the death of the member, the executive director may directly pay the death benefit, or the portion thereof to the funeral home necessary to satisfy the member’s funeral expenses.
(b) (1) If the deceased member leaves no surviving spouse or surviving designated beneficiary, a lump-sum payment of $5,000 shall be made to the estate of the deceased member upon presentation to the executive director of one of the following legal instruments:
a. Letters testamentary;
b Letters of administration;
c. Muniment of title;
d. Affidavit of small estate; or
e. Judgment declaring heirship.
(2) The lump-sum payment herein provided shall be made in lieu of any payments to which the survivor(s) or estate of the deceased member would have been entitled under the city’s group life insurance plan during the member’s period of active employment with the city.
(c) This lump-sum payment of $5,000 shall not be payable to those members:
(1) Who retired before January 1, 1970; or
(2) Whose coverage at the time of death was otherwise extended under the permanent and total disability feature of the city’s group life insurance plan.
(Ord. 20471-10-2012, § 2, passed 10-23-2012)