RÉSUMÉ DIGEST
ACT 44 (HB 31) 2018 Regular Session Pearson
Existing law allows a member of the Municipal Employees' Retirement System of La.
(MERS) to elect, upon application for retirement, to receive his full benefit payable
throughout his life (Option 1), or an actuarially reduced benefit payable throughout his life
with one of the following provisions:
(1)Upon his death the amount of his reduced benefit is paid to a designated beneficiary
through the beneficiary's lifetime.
(2)Upon his death, one-half the amount of his reduced benefit is paid to a designated
beneficiary through the beneficiary's lifetime.
(3)Some other benefit or benefits paid to the member or the beneficiary, provided the
benefits are certified to be the actuarial equivalent of his retirement allowance and
are approved by the board.
Existing law prohibits a retiree from changing his designated beneficiary. Prohibits changes
in the option selected by the member, other than to correct administrative error, after 60 days
from receipt of retirement application by the board.
New law provides additional options which are variations of (1) and (2) above. The
additional options provide that if the designated beneficiary dies before the retiree dies, the
benefits payable to the retiree shall be increased to the Option 1 benefit.
Both options provided by new law require the retiree to notify the system of the death of the
beneficiary and furnish to the system the beneficiary's death certificate.
Effective July 1, 2018.
(Amends R.S. 11:1757(A))