Judges' Retirement System II: beneficiaries.

Judges retiring on or after January 1, 2027 must now affirmatively elect to be subject to the new optional settlement provisions (Section 75571.7). They are no longer automatically placed under the new rules. Judges can also elect to remain under the old spouse-only provisions (Section 75571.5).

Under the new alternative provisions, a surviving spouse is only entitled to the 50 percent surviving spouse allowance if the spouse was married to the judge continuously from the date of the judge's retirement until the date of the judge's death.

A new provision makes the election between the old and new optional settlement sections irrevocable once made (Section 75570(a)(2)).

The removal of the 20-year minimum service requirement for the death-in-office survivor allowance is now limited to surviving spouses only, rather than extending to a broader 'surviving designated beneficiary' as in the prior version.

Section 75571.5 (the old optional settlement rules providing spouse-only benefits) is extended to remain available to judges retiring on or after January 1, 2027 who elect to be subject to it, rather than being limited to the 2018-2026 period.

Section 75570(a) was restructured from a single paragraph into subparts (a)(1)(A), (B), and (C) to clearly lay out which section applies based on retirement date and election, replacing the prior inline listing of applicable sections.

New Section 75571.7 creates a parallel set of optional retirement payment plans (unmodified allowance, Return of Remaining Contributions Option 1, 100 Percent Beneficiary Option 2, 100 Percent with Benefit Allowance Increase, 50 Percent Beneficiary Option 3, 50 Percent with Benefit Allowance Increase) that apply to judges retiring on or after January 1, 2027.

Section 75571.5 (existing optional plans) is now limited to judges who retire during the period beginning January 1, 2018 and ending December 31, 2026, rather than applying indefinitely to all retirees on or after January 1, 2018.

Section 75522 (standard service retirement) is now amended to reference Section 75571.7 for judges retiring on or after January 1, 2027, creating a three-tier system of optional plans based on retirement date (pre-2018: Section 75571; 2018-2026: Section 75571.5; 2027 and later: Section 75571.7).

Under the new Section 75571.7 plans, a judge who retires on or after January 1, 2027 may designate a beneficiary other than their spouse to receive the payment or allowance after death, subject to community property rights of the spouse.

If a nonspouse beneficiary waives entitlement to the allowance under Option 2 with Benefit Allowance Increase or Option 3 with Benefit Allowance Increase, the judge's allowance is adjusted effective the first day of the month following receipt of the waiver to reflect the benefit that would have been paid had the judge not selected an optional settlement.

Section 75570.5 (cap on combined allowances) now explicitly includes 'surviving spouse' alongside named beneficiaries in the calculation of the maximum combined allowance payable.

The new Section 75571.7 includes explicit language that the 100 Percent and 50 Percent Beneficiary Options with Benefit Allowance Increase shall not result in additional cost to the employer.

Sections 75590 and 75591 (survivor benefits) are changed from 'surviving designated beneficiary' back to 'surviving spouse,' indicating the nonspouse designation feature is confined to the new Section 75571.7 plans rather than applying to existing survivor benefit provisions.

Throughout all sections (75522.5, 75570, 75570.5, 75571.5, 75590, 75591), references to 'surviving spouse' or 'surviving spouse designated beneficiary' were replaced with 'designated beneficiary' or 'surviving designated beneficiary,' allowing judges to direct survivor benefits to any person rather than being limited to a spouse.

Section 75590(e)(1) removed the requirement of 'a minimum of 20 years of service' from the conditions for a special death-in-office benefit, so a judge who dies in office now only needs to have attained the minimum age for service retirement and been eligible under Section 75522.

Section 75591(b) removed 'surviving children of the judge' as a specific category in the distribution hierarchy when no primary beneficiary survives. The distribution now goes directly from the surviving designated beneficiary to the second designated beneficiary, or if none, to the estate.

Section 75574(a) added clarification that a judge may designate a beneficiary 'at any time prior to or after reaching retirement age, age consistent with Section 75522 or 75522.5, as applicable' and changed the requirement from a 'writing filed with the board' to a 'signed writing filed with the board.'

Section 75571.5(b) removed the intermediate step of 'surviving spouse, or if none,' before paying the balance at death to the designated beneficiary, so the return of remaining contributions now goes directly to the designated beneficiary or estate.