§88-338  Ordinary death benefit.  (a) Upon receipt by the system of proper proof of a class H member's deathoccurring in service or while on authorized leave without pay and if no pensionis payable under section 88-339, there shall be paid to the member's designatedbeneficiary an ordinary death benefit as follows:

(1)  If the member had less than five years ofcredited service at the time of death, the member's accumulated contributionsshall be paid to the member's designated beneficiary;

(2)  If the member had five or more years of creditedservice at the time of death, an amount equal to the member's hypotheticalaccount balance shall be paid to the member's designated beneficiary;

(3)  If the member had ten or more years of creditedservice at the time of death, the member's designated beneficiary may elect toreceive in lieu of any other payment provided in this section, the allowancethat would have been payable as if the member had retired on the first day of amonth following the member's death, except for the month of December whenretirement on the first or last day of the month shall be allowed.  Benefitspayable under this paragraph shall be calculated under option 3 of section88-83 and computed on the basis of section 88-332, unreduced for age; or

(4)  If the member was eligible for service retirementat the time of death, the member's designated beneficiary may elect to receivein lieu of any other payment provided in this section, the allowance that wouldhave been payable as if the member had retired on the first day of a monthfollowing the member's death, except for the month of December when retirementon the first or last day of the month shall be allowed. Benefits payable underthis paragraph shall be calculated under option 2 of section 88-83 and computedon the basis of section 88-332.

(b)  If the member's designation of beneficiaryis void as specified in section 88-93, or if the member did not designate abeneficiary, the death benefit in the case of ordinary death shall be payable:

(1)  To the surviving spouse or reciprocalbeneficiary, a benefit as specified under subsection (a);

(2)  To the deceased member's children under ageeighteen, if there is no surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary, an equallydivided benefit as specified under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a); or

(3)  To the deceased member's estate, if there is nosurviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary or children under the age ofeighteen, a benefit as specified under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a).

(c)  For the purposes of this section, a yearround school employee shall be considered in service during the July and Augustpreceding a transfer to a traditional school schedule if the employee was inservice for the entire prior school year and has a contract for the upcomingtraditional school year.

(d)  The application for ordinary deathbenefits shall be filed no later than three years from the date of the member'sdeath. [L 2004, c 179, pt of §1; am L 2006, c 169, §37; am L 2007, c 215, §26]