1. (a) This section applies to a participant who dies while a member of the general assembly, or who dies after terminating service as a member of the general assembly and prior to withdrawing the participant's account from the defined contribution fund. The participant's employee contribution account and the participant's employer contribution account shall be paid to a beneficiary or the beneficiaries designated on a form prescribed by the board. The amount paid shall be the fair market value of the participant's accounts on the last day of the quarter preceding the date of payment, plus employee contributions deducted and employer contributions made since the last day of the quarter preceding the date of payment. If there is no properly designated beneficiary, or if no beneficiary survives the participant, the participant's accounts shall be paid to:

   1. (1) the surviving spouse of the participant;
   2. (2) if there is no surviving spouse, a surviving dependent or the surviving dependents of the participant; or
   3. (3) if there is no surviving spouse and no surviving dependent, the estate of the participant.
2. (b) Amounts payable under this section shall be paid in a lump sum, a partial lump sum, a monthly annuity as purchased by the board with the remaining amount, or a series of monthly installment payments over sixty (60) months, as elected by the recipient. The forms of annuity and installments available shall be established by the board by rule, in consultation with the system's actuary.

As added by P.L.6-1989, SEC.1. Amended by P.L.195-1999, SEC.5 and P.L.205-1999, SEC.6; P.L.13-2001, SEC.6; P.L.35-2012, SEC.11.