Death While Eligible Benefit
San Diego Municipal Code § 24.0704
in effect§24.0704 Death While Eligible Benefit
(a) The System will pay the death while eligible benefit, as an option in place of the active death benefit, when an active Member dies while he or she is eligible to retire and:
(1) there is a surviving spouse who is named as the Member’s Beneficiary and was married to the Member when the Member died, or
(2) the Member had one or more children under the age of 18 when the Member died.
(b) The death while eligible benefit is the sum of the following:
(1) One-half of the monthly allowance the Member would have received if the Member had retired on the day he or she died, having selected the maximum benefit. The System will pay this monthly allowance to the Member’s surviving spouse for the surviving spouse’s life. If there is no qualifying surviving spouse, or if the surviving spouse dies before all of the Member’s children reach the age of 18, the System will pay this monthly allowance in equal shares to the Member’s children under the age of 18 until each child dies or reaches the age of
18. This benefit begins to accrue on the day after the Member dies.
(2) An Annuity that is the actuarial equivalent of the Member’s Accumulated Additional Contributions on the day the Member died, payable monthly to the Member’s surviving spouse for life. If there is no qualifying surviving spouse, the System will pay the Member’s Accumulated Additional Contributions in lump sum and in equal shares to the Member’s children under the age of 18.
(c) Payment of the death while eligible benefit will stop when the Member’s surviving spouse dies and all of the Member’s children have either died or reached the age of 18. If this occurs before the sum of the monthly payments made, less the Annuity derived from the Member’s Accumulated Additional Contributions, equals the active death benefit, the System will pay the remainder in lump sum and in equal shares to the Member’s surviving children. If there are no surviving children, the System will pay the sum to the Member’s named Beneficiary. If there is no named Beneficiary, the sum will be paid as stated in section 24.0706.
(d) A surviving spouse who is eligible to receive the death while eligible benefit may elect instead to receive a lump sum payment of the actuarial present value of the benefit. If the surviving spouse chooses the lump sum payment, the actuarial present value will be determined as of the date of the Member’s death.
(e) If there is no surviving spouse or child eligible to receive the death while eligible benefit, the System will pay the active death benefit to the Member’s named Beneficiary. If there is no named Beneficiary, the sum will be paid as stated in section 24.0706.
(“Basic Death Benefit Payment Options” repealed; “Death While Eligible Benefit” added 4–2–2002 by O–19043 N.S.)
Source: City of San Diego Office of the City Clerk, San Diego Municipal Code and City Charter (docs.sandiego.gov PDFs)URL: https://docs.sandiego.gov/municode/MuniCodeChapter02/Ch02Art04Division07.pdf#page=3Fetched: 10/28/2026