AGO 1991-004.

• Case Date: February 11, 1991
• Court: Connecticut

Connecticut Attorney General Opinions 1991. AGO 1991-004. February 11, 1991Opinion No. 1991-004Mr. John R. ShearsAdministratorState Teachers' Retirement Board165 Capitol AvenueHartford, CT 06106 Dear Mr. Shears: By letter dated November 27, 1990 you have asked two questions raised as a result of a request of a member of the State Teachers' Retirement System who has not received any retirement benefit payments since his retirement in 1986. The first question concerns whether retirement benefits can be paid to the member retroactively to 1986 pursuant to a payment plan which he selected in June, 1990, which differs from a payment plan which he previously had on file with the Board in 1986. The second question is whether the Board may pay interest at a reasonable rate from the time each payment was due until the date payment is made. We conclude for the reasons stated below that payment may not be made retroactively to 1986 pursuant to the payment plan selected in 1990 and that interest may not be paid. Your letter of request plus subsequent information provided by your office indicates the following facts. The member was born in 1929 and has twenty-seven consecutive years of credited service as a public school teacher in Connecticut. He provided the Board in early 1986 with medical evidence of good health. As a result, the Board notified him that his election of the coparticipant benefit option had become effective as of April 11, 1986. He was told in his May 19, 1986 letter of notice that in the event of his death his wife as his designated coparticipant would be entitled to receive for life the whole amount of his reduced retirement allowance. This was consistent with the April 8, 1986 form that he executed in which he acknowledged that this designation in so providing for his wife in the event of his death after his retirement "would provide [him] with a reduced retirement allowance during [his] lifetime." On July 14, 1986 he filed an application for a disability allowance with the Board. The member resigned from his teaching position effective August 1, 1986. The Board in the context of this application had on file the members' complete formal application for retirement as defined in Conn. Gen. Stat. §10-183b(16). The disability allowance was denied by the Board. The member recently inquired about receiving a service...