(a) Filing of Request with Board. Each Department Member who was appointed prior to January 29, 1967 shall have the right to become a Tier 2 System Member and may exercise such right only by filing a request with the Board by January 29, 1968, except as is hereinafter provided. Each such Department Member who shall be serving in the armed forces of the United States as of January 29, 1967 and who thereafter shall return to active duty as a Department Member, within the time required for job rights and other benefits, may exercise such right only by filing a request with the Board by January 29, 1968 or within 90 days immediately following such return to active duty, whichever shall be the later. Each person who shall be receiving a disability pension pursuant to Section 1310 or to Section 1312 of Tier 1 of this Article as of January 29, 1967 and who thereafter shall be restored to active duty as a Department Member may exercise such right only by filing a request with the Board by January 29, 1968 or within 90 days immediately following such restoration to active duty, whichever shall be the later. The legally appointed, qualified and acting guardian of the estate of any such Department Member may exercise such right for and on behalf of the Department Member only by filing a request with the Board by January 29, 1968, but Court approval first shall have been obtained.
(b) Extension of Filing Time. The Board, for good cause and in its discretion, may extend the time within which any such Department Member or the guardian of the estate of any such Department Member may file a request, whether the applicable period hereinabove prescribed shall have or shall not have elapsed, and may impose whatever terms and conditions which it shall deem to be reasonable and just for the giving of any extension of time.
(c) Waiver of Pension Rights and Benefits in Tier 1. Each request shall be in writing, shall be signed by such Department Member or by the legally appointed, qualified and acting guardian of the estate of such Department Member, shall contain his full and complete waiver of any and all present and future pension rights and benefits provided by Tier 1 of this Article, including derivative rights and benefits for widows and other beneficiaries, shall contain his full and complete release, discharge and acquittance of the City and the Board of and from any and all present and future liabilities for the payment of any benefits pursuant to Tier 1 and shall contain his election to become a Tier 2 System Member. The contents of the request need not be restricted to the aforementioned items and such request may include any and all provisions which the Board and the City Attorney may deem to be necessary or desirable to effectuate full and complete release, discharge and acquittance by each such member of the City and the Board of and from any and all present and future liabilities for the payment of any benefits pursuant to Tier 1, and the Board, after the effective date of this Tier 2, shall have the power and authority to expend moneys for the preparation of requests and for the distribution of them to such Department Members.
(d) Spousal Consent or Waiver by Board. Each request, whether signed by such Department Member or by the guardian of his estate, shall be signed by the spouse of such Department Member whereby he or she shall freely and voluntarily join in and consent to everything contained therein with the same force and effect as if he or she had signed the same as a member, and such request, when so signed, shall be both effective and irrevocable upon filing with the Board. However, the Board, in its discretion but only upon the written request therefor by the particular Department Member involved, may waive the requirement that the request shall be signed by the spouse of such Department Member, except in the case of any Department Member who was appointed as a member of the Fire Department or of the Police Department prior to January 17, 1927, and such request, when signed by the Department Member or the guardian of his estate, shall be both effective and irrevocable upon filing with the Board after but not prior to the Board’s action waiving the requirement.