If no family benefit is being paid pursuant to § 3-12C-907, a surviving spouse of a contributing generational member who had acquired at least three years of contributory service or noncontributory service or died while performing usual duties for the employer is, upon attaining the age sixty-seven, eligible to receive a surviving spouse benefit as follows:

(1) If a family benefit had been paid, sixty percent of the family benefit paid at the time the family benefit ended, increased by the COLA from the date the last family benefit was paid; or

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(2) If a family benefit had not been paid, sixty percent of the amount calculated pursuant to subsection (a) or (b), whichever is greater, increased by the COLA from the date of the member’s death:

(a) Twenty-five percent of the member’s final average compensation at the time of the member’s death; or

(b) The member’s unreduced accrued retirement benefit at the time of the member’s death.

The surviving spouse benefit shall be paid in monthly installments for the life of the surviving spouse.

Source: SL 2016, ch 32, § 18; SL 2017, ch 27, § 36; SDCL § 3-12-516; SL 2019, ch 22, §§ 38, 45.