31AMinimum benefit payable in respect of pensioner who dies

#### 31A Minimum benefit payable in respect of pensioner who dies 31A Minimum benefit payable in respect of pensioner who dies > > (1) If a pensioner dies without leaving a spouse or de facto partner to whom pension is payable under this Act, nor a child in respect of whom pension is payable under this Act, there is payable to the personal representatives of the pensioner an amount calculated by deducting from the minimum benefit payable in respect of the pensioner the total of all benefits paid to the pensioner under this Act. > > > (2) If a pensioner dies leaving a surviving spouse or de facto partner, and the surviving spouse or de facto partner dies, and there is no child of the pensioner or spouse or de facto partner in respect of whom pension is payable under this Act, there is payable to the personal representatives of the pensioner an amount calculated by deducting from the minimum benefit payable in respect of the pensioner the total of— > > > > > (a) all benefits paid to the pensioner under this Act, and > > > > > (b) all benefits paid as a consequence of the death of the pensioner to the spouse or de facto partner or any other person under this Act. > > > (3) If a pensioner dies leaving a surviving spouse or de facto partner to whom pension is payable under this Act, and no child of the pensioner or spouse or de facto partner in respect of whom pension is payable under this Act, and the surviving spouse or de facto partner elects to commute the whole of that pension under section 21C, there is payable to the spouse or de facto partner, on that election taking effect, whichever is the greater of the following amounts— > > > > > (a) the amount that would be payable under section 21C (but for this section), or > > > > > (b) the amount calculated by deducting from the minimum benefit payable in respect of the pensioner the total of— > > > > > > > (i) all benefits paid to the pensioner under this Act, and > > > > > > > (ii) all benefits paid as a consequence of the death of the pensioner to the spouse or de facto partner or any other person under this Act. > > > (4) If subsection (1), (2) or (3) would apply in respect of a pensioner, but for the pensioner leaving a child or children in respect of whom pension is payable under this Act (or would, but for this section, be so payable), STC may, if it considers it to be in the best interests of the child or children, apply this section as if there were no such child or children, in which case pension or pensions are not payable under this Act in respect of the child or children. > > > (5) If a pensioner has no personal representatives, an amount payable to the pensioner’s personal representatives is to be paid to such person or persons as STC may determine. > > > (6) For the purposes of this section, if a pensioner dies and his or her spouse or de facto partner died at the same moment or in circumstances rendering it uncertain which of them survived the other, and the spouse or de facto partner died before a pension became payable to him or her under this Act because of the pensioner’s death, the pensioner is taken not to have a surviving spouse or de facto partner. > > > (7) For the purposes of this section, the minimum benefit payable in respect of a pensioner is the amount to which the pensioner would have been entitled under section 38A if the pensioner had, on the day determined by STC as being the last day on which he or she was an employee, resigned from the service of his or her employer and elected to take the benefit of that section. > > > (8) In this section— > > > > benefits includes instalments of pension. > > > > pensioner means a person to whom a pension is payable under this Act because the person was a former contributor, and includes a person who became entitled to a pension under this Act because the person was a former contributor and who commuted that pension in accordance with this Act. > > **s 31A:** Ins 1972 No 66, sec 6 (1). Rep 1978 No 143, Sch 2 (10). Ins 1998 No 144, Sch 2.5 \[21\].