New York Laws
Title 8 - Death Benefits and Disability Retirement
360-A - Guaranteed Ordinary Death Benefit Payable Upon Death of State Employees.

§ 360-a. Guaranteed ordinary death benefit payable upon death of state
employees. a. Upon the death in service of a member who was in the
employ of the state on March thirty-first, nineteen hundred sixty-nine,
and whose beneficiary was eligible for the ordinary death benefit
pursuant to section three hundred sixty of this chapter, or would have
been eligible had the state employee had one year or more of service,
such beneficiary shall receive an ordinary death benefit payable
pursuant to section three hundred sixty, or, in lieu of such ordinary
death benefit, the benefit payable pursuant to this section, whichever
is greater.

aa. Upon the death in service of a member on or after April first,
nineteen hundred seventy, who (1) entered or reentered the employ of the
state after March thirty-first, nineteen hundred sixty-nine and prior to
April first, nineteen hundred eighty-five, and was in such employ on
March thirty-first, nineteen hundred eighty-five, (2) had not attained
age sixty at the date of such entrance into such service, (3) had
rendered ninety or more days of continuous state service during the
fifteen month period immediately preceding death, (4) last joined or
rejoined a public retirement system thereof before July first, nineteen
hundred seventy-three, and (5) whose beneficiary was eligible for the
ordinary death benefit pursuant to section three hundred sixty of this
chapter, or would have been eligible had the employee had one year or
more of state service, such beneficiary shall receive an ordinary death
benefit payable pursuant to section three hundred sixty of this chapter,
or, in lieu of such ordinary death benefit, the benefit payable pursuant
to this section, whichever is greater.

aaa. Provided further, notwithstanding any other provision of this
article to the contrary, where the member is an officer or member of the
state police and would have been entitled to a service retirement
benefit at the time of his or her death and where his or her death
occurs on or after July first, two thousand, the beneficiary or
beneficiaries may elect to receive, in a lump sum, an amount payable
which shall be equal to the pension reserve that would have been
established had the member retired on the date of his or her death, or
the value of the death benefit and the
reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if any, whichever is greater.
Provided further, that for the purpose of determining entitlement to the
benefit provided by this subdivision, and notwithstanding the provisions
of subdivision j of section three hundred forty-one of this article, the
total number of days of unused sick leave and accumulated vacation
credit accrued by the member at the time of his or her death shall be
considered in meeting the total creditable service required to qualify
for a service retirement benefit provided without regard to age where
his or her death occurs on or after July second, two thousand nine.

b. The guaranteed ordinary death benefit provided under this section
to such a beneficiary shall be three times the compensation earnable by
the state employee during his last twelve months of service as a member,
raised to the next higher multiple of one thousand dollars, but in no
event, greater than twenty thousand dollars.

c. For the purposes of this section an employee who dies while off the
payroll shall be considered to be in service provided he or she (1) was
on the payroll in such service and paid within a period of twelve months
prior to his or her death, or was on the payroll in the service upon
which membership is based at the time he or she was ordered to active
duty pursuant to Title 10 of the United States Code, with the armed
forces of the United States or to service in the uniformed services
pursuant to Chapter 43 of Title 38 of the United States Code and died
while on such active duty or service in the uniformed services on or

after June fourteenth, two thousand five, (2) had not been otherwise
gainfully employed since he or she ceased to be on such payroll and (3)
had credit for at least one year of continuous service since he or she
last entered or reentered the service of his or her employer. Provided,
further, that any such member ordered to active duty pursuant to Title
10 of the United States Code, with the armed forces of the United States
or to service in the uniformed services pursuant to Chapter 43 of Title
38 of the United States Code who died prior to rendering the minimum
amount of service necessary to be eligible for this benefit shall be
considered to have satisfied the minimum service requirement.

d. The provisions of this section shall apply in any case where death
occurs on or after the date this section becomes law and prior to July
first, nineteen hundred seventy-four.