Optional forms of benefit payments

1. A teacher may elect to receive benefits under article 82-05 in any one of the following forms: a. A one hundred percent joint and survivor annuity. b. A fifty percent joint and survivor annuity. c. An annuity payable to the teacher or the teacher's designated beneficiary for the life of the teacher or two hundred forty months, whichever is longer. d. An annuity payable to the teacher or the teacher's designated beneficiary for the life of the teacher or one hundred twenty months, whichever is longer. 2. A married member's spouse, if designated as beneficiary, must consent in writing to the form of payment option elected by the member at retirement. If spousal consent is not obtained, the form of benefit payment option will be the fifty percent joint and survivor option. 3. Benefits under the optional forms of payment must be determined on an actuarially equivalent basis. The teacher's choice of benefit under this section is irrevocable once the teacher has begun receiving benefits except under the following circumstances: a. Under the single life, five-year term certain and life (option no longer available to new retirees), twenty-year term certain and life, and ten-year term certain and life annuity options, if a retired teacher marries, that teacher may change that teacher's beneficiary under section 82-05-01-03 and form of benefit payment to a joint and survivor option. b. Under the one hundred percent joint and survivor and fifty percent joint and survivor annuity options, if a retired teacher's designated beneficiary precedes the teacher in death, or if the marriage of a teacher and the designated beneficiary is dissolved and the divorce decree provides for sole retention of the retirement benefits by the teacher, the form of benefits shall automatically revert to the standard form of benefit payment under section 82-05-02-01 and a new beneficiary may be designated under section 82-05-01-03. The teacher, upon remarriage, may designate the new spouse as the primary beneficiary and may elect a joint and survivor option. 4. The teacher must provide proof of the teacher's good health before the board can permit a change in the designated beneficiary under the joint and survivor options. A medical examination conducted by a licensed medical doctor is required. 5. The teacher is required to provide proof of age for the new beneficiary. The board must adjust the monthly retirement benefit to the actuarially equivalent amount based on the new designated beneficiary's age.