§ 11–1569. Survivor annuity; payment; order of precedence.

(a) Survivor annuities shall accrue monthly and shall be due and payable in monthly installments on the first business day of the month following the month or other period for which the annuity shall have accrued.

(b) In any case in which —

(1) a judge who has elected survivor annuity shall die (A) while in regular active service after having rendered five years of allowable service as provided in section 11-1568(a) or while receiving retirement salary under this subchapter but without a survivor or survivors entitled to annuity under section 11-1568(c) or (B) while in regular active service but before having rendered five years of allowable service; or

(2) the right of all persons entitled to an annuity under section 11-1568(c) based on the service of the judge shall terminate before a valid claim therefor shall have been established;

the lump-sum credit shall be paid, upon the establishment of a valid claim therefor, to the person or persons surviving at the date title to the payment arises, in the following order of precedence, and such payment shall be a bar to recovery by any other person:

First, to the beneficiary or beneficiaries whom the judge may have designated in writing to the Secretary of the Treasury prior to the judge’s death;

Second, if there be no such beneficiary, to the widow or widower of the judge;

Third, if none of the above, to the child or children of the judge and the descendants of any deceased children by representation;

Fourth, if none of the above, to the parents of the judge or the survivor of them;

Fifth, if none of the above, to the duly appointed executor or administrator of the estate of such judge;

Sixth, if none of the above, to such other next of kin of the judge as may be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury to be entitled under the laws of the domicile of the judge at the time of the judge’s death.

Determination as to the widow, widower, or child of a judge for purposes of this subsection shall be made by the Secretary of the Treasury without regard to the definitions in section 11-1561.

(c) In any case in which the annuities of all persons entitled to annuity based upon the service of a judge shall terminate before the aggregate amount of annuity paid (together with any amounts received by the judge as retirement salary) equals the total amount credited to the individual account of the judge, with interest at 4 per centum per annum to December 31, 1947, and 3 per centum per annum thereafter, compounded on December 31 of each year, to the date of the death of such judge or the end of the 90-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of the District of Columbia Retirement Reform Act (D.C. Official Code, sec. 1-701 et seq.), whichever is earlier, the difference shall be paid upon establishment of a valid claim therefor, in the order of precedence prescribed in subsection (b).

(d) Any accrued annuity remaining unpaid upon the termination (other than by reason of death) of the annuity of any person based upon the service of a judge shall be paid to such person. Any accrued annuity remaining unpaid upon the death of any person receiving an annuity based upon the service of a judge shall be paid, upon establishment of a valid claim therefor, in the following order of precedence:

First, to the duly appointed executor or administrator of the estate of the annuitant;

Second, if there is no such executor or administrator, payment may be made, after the expiration of thirty days from the date of death of the annuitant, to such person or persons as may appear in the judgment of the Secretary of the Treasury to be legally entitled thereto, and such payments shall be a bar to recovery by any other person.

(e) Where any payment under sections 11-1566 to 11-1569 is to be made to a minor or to a person mentally incompetent or under other legal disability adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction, such payment may be made to the person who is constituted guardian or other fiduciary by the law of the jurisdiction wherein the claimant resides or is otherwise legally vested with the care of the claimant or the claimant’s estate. Where no guardian or other fiduciary of the person under legal disability has been appointed under the laws of the jurisdiction wherein the claimant resides, payment may be made to any person who, in the judgment of the Secretary of the Treasury, is responsible for the care of the claimant, and the payment bars recovery by any other person.