Updated October 21, 2026. Quick answer: The LACERS Tier 1 summary plan description says every retiree must choose between a Cash Refund Annuity and a Life Annuity, and that a retiree with an eligible spouse or domestic partner has part of the contributions fund a lifetime Continuance equal to 50% of the Retirement Allowance. A larger Continuance reduces the monthly allowance permanently, and the document says that reduction cannot be undone.
What this covers
The Payment Options for Your Retirement Allowance section opens “When you retire, you will need to make decisions that may change the amount of your monthly allowance.” This page follows that section and quotes it. The wider set of LACERS choices is on LACERS retirement decisions and public pension retirement decisions; the general trade-off is on single life versus joint and survivor pensions.
The two base choices
The document says “ALL RETIREES MUST CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:” For the Cash Refund Annuity: “any unused contributions remaining after your death will be paid to your beneficiary.” For the Life Annuity: “you will receive a slightly larger monthly Retirement Allowance; however, you give up the right to have any unused contributions refunded to a beneficiary.”
If you have an eligible spouse or domestic partner
The document says “a lifetime monthly Continuance benefit to your eligible Spouse/Domestic Partner equal to 50% of your Retirement Allowance.” “You may provide a larger Continuance, but your monthly Retirement Allowance will be reduced” to pay for the increase.
It warns that the choice is permanent: “the reduction of your allowance is permanent and cannot be undone even if your Spouse/Domestic Partner dies before you do, or if your marriage or domestic partnership is terminated.”
If you have no eligible spouse or domestic partner
The document says “You can choose to receive a slightly larger monthly allowance or a refund of the part of your contributions that would have funded your Continuance benefit.” “You may choose to provide a monthly Continuance that will be paid upon your death to anyone you select for that person’s lifetime.” That Continuance “is funded solely by a reduction of your monthly allowance amount.”
If the person you name dies first, the document lists three results: “Your Retirement Allowance will not be increased”; “You will not be allowed to name another beneficiary to receive a Continuance”; and “No Continuance payment will be made upon your death”.
Divorce and community property
The document says “the court may award part of the community interest in your LACERS benefits to your Spouse/Domestic Partner.” “LACERS is required to withhold contested benefits until served with a court order disposing of the community interest in these benefits.”
A worked illustration, not a document example
The document’s normal-retirement example is a monthly Retirement Allowance of $1,749.60. Applying the 50% Continuance to that figure, computed as 1,749.60 x 50%, gives $874.80 a month to an eligible spouse or domestic partner. This applies the document’s 50% to the document’s example allowance. A real Continuance depends on the option actually chosen and on whether the larger-Continuance reduction applies, so it is arithmetic on one set of inputs and not a prediction.
Taxes
The document says “The value of the benefits you earn under the Plan is not taxable to you until you actually receive benefits.” The treatment of the monthly payments under California and federal law is on whether California taxes pensions.
Edition
This page reads Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System (LACERS), Tier 1 Benefits Summary Plan Description, the current file LACERS served on 2026-10-21. It covers Tier 1 only (members who joined on or before February 20, 2016); Tier 3 members have a separate summary plan description that this page does not read. Check the edition, your tier and your own membership record with LACERS; the document’s text controls over this summary.
Common mistakes
- Treating a larger Continuance as reversible. The document says the reduction “is permanent and cannot be undone”.
- Expecting a replacement if the named person dies first. The document says “You will not be allowed to name another beneficiary to receive a Continuance”
- Naming a spouse or partner who does not qualify. The document requires the marriage or filing at least one year before retirement, as described on LACERS early service retirement.
Related: LACERS retirement decisions, single life versus joint and survivor pensions, survivor benefits with a government pension, and whether California taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System (LACERS), Tier 1 Benefits Summary Plan Description: www.lacers.org
- Related official page (not quoted): LACERS home page: www.lacers.org
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS Topic no. 410, Pensions and annuity income: www.irs.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS Publication 575, Pension and Annuity Income: www.irs.gov
Read from the pension system handbooks linked above on October 21, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a pension system or a qualified professional is the right place to confirm anything consequential.