Tex. Gov't Code § 839.103 · Subchapter B. SERVICE RETIREMENT BENEFITS
OPTIONAL SERVICE RETIREMENT ANNUITY.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) Instead of a service retirement annuity payable under Section 839.102, a retiring member may elect to receive one of the following optional service retirement annuities, actuarially reduced to an actuarially equivalent value and consisting of:
(1) an annuity payable during the retiring member's life and continuing after death in the same amount, throughout the life of one person designated by the retiring member before retirement;
(2) an annuity payable during the retiring member's life and continuing after death in an amount equal to one-half of the amount payable during the retiring member's life, throughout the life of one person designated by the retiring member before retirement;
(3) an annuity payable for the greater of the rest of the retiring member's life or 60 months;
(4) an annuity payable for the greater of the rest of the retiring member's life or 120 months; or
(5) an annuity payable during the retiring member's life and continuing after death in an amount equal to three-fourths of the amount payable during the retiring member's life, throughout the life of one person designated by the retiring member before retirement.
(b) An annuity selected under Subsection (a)(3) or (a)(4) that is payable after the retiring member's death shall be paid to one or more persons designated by the retiring member before or after retirement or, if no person has been designated or all designees die before all payments are made, to the retiree's estate.
(c) A person may apply for an optional service retirement annuity by filing an application for the annuity with the retirement system before the date of the person's retirement.
(d) If a person who is nominated by a retiree in the written designation under Subsection (a) predeceases the retiree, the reduced annuity of a retiree who has elected an optional lifetime retirement annuity under Subsection (a) shall be increased to the standard service retirement annuity that the retiree would otherwise be entitled to receive if the retiree had not selected that annuity option. The standard service retirement annuity shall be adjusted as appropriate for:
(1) early retirement as permitted by law; and
(2) postretirement increases in retirement benefits authorized by law after the date of retirement.
(e) The increase in the annuity under Subsection (d) begins with the monthly payment made to the retiree for the month following the month in which the person nominated dies and is payable to the retiree for the remainder of the retiree's life.
(f) The computation of an optional service retirement annuity payable throughout the life of a named individual must include the age of that individual.
(g) An optional service retirement annuity may not provide that more than 50 percent of the value of the annuity, as determined at the time of retirement, be used to provide a benefit to a person other than the person on whose service the annuity is based.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 602, Sec. 1, Sept. 1, 1985. Renumbered from Vernon's Ann.Civ.St. Title 110B, Sec. 74.103 and amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 179, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989. Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 850, Sec. 33, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.
Amended by:
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1308 (H.B. 2559), Sec. 28, eff. September 1, 2009.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/GV/htm/GV.839.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 2a0958c5b89d63ada8840aa5debde61a36d278b6adff4c2e03337a88f90a9471
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Cited by 3 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Tex. Gov't Code § 839.103. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Government Code
- Tex. Gov't Code § 837.103RESUMPTION OF FULL-TIME JUDICIAL SERVICE BY CERTAIN RETIREES; OPTIONAL ELECTION TO REJOIN SYSTEM.Printed as Section 839.103(a)(3)
- Tex. Gov't Code § 839.203DISABILITY RETIREMENT ANNUITY.Printed as Section 839.103
- Tex. Gov't Code § 839.305RETURN OF EXCESS CONTRIBUTIONS.Printed as Section 839.103 or 839.203(c)
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.