75570-75573

GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 75570-75573




75570.  (a) In lieu of the retirement allowance under subdivision
(d) of Section 75522 for his or her life alone, a judge who elects to
retire with a monthly allowance under subdivision (d) of Section
75522 may elect, or revoke or change a previous election prior to the
approval of the previous election, to have the actuarial equivalent
of his or her retirement allowance as of the date of retirement
applied to a lesser retirement allowance, in accordance with one of
the optional settlements specified in Section 75571.
   (b) That election, revocation, or change of election shall be made
by a writing filed with the system prior to the making of the first
payment on account of any retirement allowance.



75571.  (a) Optional settlement one consists of the right to have a
retirement allowance paid him or her until his or her death and if he
or she dies before he or she receives the amount of his or her
accumulated contributions at retirement, to have the balance at death
paid to his or her surviving spouse or estate.
   (b) (1) Optional settlement two consists of the right to have a
retirement allowance paid him or her until his or her death and
thereafter to his or her surviving spouse for life.
   (2) If the judge's spouse predeceases the judge and the judge
elected this optional settlement to be effective on or after January
1, 2002, the judge's allowance shall be adjusted effective the first
day of the month following the death of the spouse to reflect the
benefit that would have been paid had the judge not elected an
optional settlement.
   (3) If the marriage of a retired judge is dissolved or annulled or
if the retired judge and his or her spouse are legally separated and
the judgment dividing their community property awards the total
interest in this system to the retired judge, and the retired judge
elected this optional settlement to be effective on or after January
1, 2002, the retired judge's allowance shall be adjusted effective
the first day of the month following the filing of the judgment with
the board to reflect the benefit that would have been paid had the
judge not elected an optional settlement.
   (c) (1) Optional settlement three consists of the right to have a
retirement allowance paid him or her until his or her death, and
thereafter to have one-half of his or her retirement allowance paid
to his or her surviving spouse for life.
   (2) If the judge's spouse predeceases the judge and the judge
elected this optional settlement to be effective on or after January
1, 2002, the judge's allowance shall be adjusted effective the first
day of the month following the death of the spouse to reflect the
benefit that would have been paid had the judge not elected an
optional settlement.
   (3) If the marriage of a retired judge is dissolved or annulled or
if the retired judge and his or her spouse are legally separated and
the judgment dividing their community property awards the total
interest in this system to the retired judge, and the retired judge
elected this optional settlement to be effective on or after January
1, 2002, the retired judge's allowance shall be adjusted effective
the first day of the month following the filing of the judgment with
the board to reflect the benefit that would have been paid had the
judge not elected an optional settlement.
   (d) Optional settlement four consists of other benefits that are
the actuarial equivalent of his or her retirement allowance, that he
or she may select subject to the approval of the board.




75572.  The benefits payable to any person who first becomes a
member of this system on or after July 1, 1996, shall not exceed the
limitations in Section 401(a) of Title 26 of the United States Code
upon public retirement systems, as that section may be amended from
time to time and as that limit may be adjusted by the Commissioner of
Internal Revenue for increases in cost of living. The determination
of compensation for each 12-month period shall be subject to the
annual compensation limit in effect for that calendar year. In a
determination of average annual compensation over more than one
12-month period, the amount of compensation taken into account for
each 12-month period shall be subject to the applicable annual
compensation limit.



75573.  A judge who elects to receive optional settlement two or
three may concurrently and irrevocably elect to waive the provision
for an increase to his or her allowance, as specified in subdivisions
(b) and (c) of Section 75571, and shall, instead, have his or her
allowance based upon the waiver of this benefit.