Report supporting recommendations that the beneficiaries of judges and justices of the Unified Court System who die in office be entitled to receive a pension instead of a death benefit

SUMMARY

The Council on Judicial Administration wrote a report in support of recommendations from the New York County Lawyers’ Association that the beneficiaries of judges and justices of the Unified Court System who die in office be entitled to receive a pension instead of a death benefit.  Currently, the beneficiaries of a judge who, either dies in office, or before his or her retirement becomes effective receive a death benefit equal to three times the judge’s average salary during the his or her final three years in office.  However, once a judge reaches 60 years of age, his or her death benefit is reduced by 4% per annum up to a maximum of 40%.   In a situation characterized as the “Death Gamble”, judges are forced to gamble that they can live long enough to retire so that when they die, their families will be entitled to receive an adequate pension that they can opt to receive as a monthly allowance. The Council’s report supports recommendations to amend New York Retirement and Social Security Law to permit an eligible retirement system member (such as a sitting judge) to elect that the member’s beneficiary receives, in lieu of an ordinary death benefit, the death benefit to which such beneficiary would have been entitled to receive had the member retired effective prior to the date of his or her death.