Sec. 51-51. Pensions for surviving spouses and children of judges, family support magistrates and compensation commissioners.

(a) The surviving spouse of a deceased judge or of a compensation commissioner who commenced service as a judge or compensation commissioner prior to January 1, 1981, who died while holding judicial office or while holding the office of compensation commissioner or who died after retirement, shall receive, annually, for the rest of his or her natural life the following allowances:

(1) The surviving spouse of a person who was a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall receive, annually, one-third of the salary for the office of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

(2) The surviving spouse of a Chief Court Administrator who was a judge shall receive, annually, one-third of the salary for the office of Chief Court Administrator.

(3) The surviving spouse of a person who was an associate judge of the Supreme Court, shall receive, annually, one-third of the salary for the office of an associate judge of the Supreme Court.

(4) The surviving spouse of a person who was Chief Judge of the Appellate Court shall receive, annually, one-third of the salary for the office of Chief Judge of the Appellate Court.

(5) The surviving spouse of a judge of the Appellate Court shall receive, annually, one-third of the salary for the office of a judge of the Appellate Court.

(6) The surviving spouse of a Deputy Chief Court Administrator who was a judge shall receive, annually, one-third of the salary for the office of Deputy Chief Court Administrator.

(7) The surviving spouse of a person who was a judge of the Superior Court shall receive, annually, one-third of the salary for the office of a judge of the Superior Court.

(8) The surviving spouse of a deceased judge of the Court of Common Pleas, of the Circuit Court or of the Juvenile Court, shall receive annually, one-third of the salary for the office of Superior Court judge.

(9) The surviving spouse of a deceased compensation commissioner shall receive, annually, one-third of the salary of a compensation commissioner.

(b) The surviving spouse of a deceased judge of the Supreme Court, the Appellate Court or the Superior Court or of a family support magistrate or of a compensation commissioner who first commenced service as a judge, family support magistrate or compensation commissioner on or after January 1, 1981, and (1) who died while holding judicial office or the office of family support magistrate or compensation commissioner shall receive, annually, for the rest of his or her natural life, an allowance equal to one-third of the salary such judge, family support magistrate or compensation commissioner was receiving on the date of his or her death; or (2) who died after the judge, family support magistrate or compensation commissioner had retired shall receive, annually, for the rest of his or her natural life, an allowance equal to one-half of the retirement salary including any cost of living allowances the judge, family support magistrate or compensation commissioner was receiving on the date of his or her death.

(c) The surviving spouse of a deceased judge or of a family support magistrate or of a compensation commissioner who died after the judge, family support magistrate or compensation commissioner had resigned with a vested right to a retirement salary under the provisions of section 51-49a, shall receive, annually, for the rest of his or her natural life, an allowance equal to one-half of the retirement salary the judge, family support magistrate or compensation commissioner would have received had he or she lived until he or she was so eligible.

(d) If a judge, family support magistrate or compensation commissioner leaves no surviving spouse, or if the surviving spouse dies before the youngest child of such judge, family support magistrate or compensation commissioner reaches the age of eighteen, the pension, if any, otherwise payable to his or her surviving spouse under this section shall be payable, until the youngest child reaches the age of eighteen, to the guardian of the child, for the support of such child and any other children of the judge, family support magistrate or compensation commissioner under the age of eighteen.

(e) The provisions of this section shall not apply to a surviving spouse or child who is receiving a pension under the provisions of any special act.

(1949 Rev., S. 3598; September, 1950, 1953, 1955, S. 1968d; November, 1955, S. N194; 1959, P.A. 28, S. 91; 531, S. 22; 1967, P.A. 621, S. 4; 1972, P.A. 89, S. 1; P.A. 74-45; 74-183, S. 36, 291; P.A. 76-436, S. 68a, 681; P.A. 77-515, S. 1, 3; 77-576, S. 33, 65; P.A. 79-631, S. 87, 111; P.A. 80-337, S. 5, 13; P.A. 81-472, S. 89, 159; P.A. 82-248, S. 35; P.A. 84-399, S. 6, 17; P.A. 85-517, S. 3, 5; P.A. 87-198, S. 3, 6; P.A. 92-226, S. 14, 28.)

History: 1959 acts applied provisions to widows of circuit court judges and widows of juvenile court judges; 1967 act deleted requirement that judge must have attained age of 70 for provisions to apply, deleted provision re widows of judges who retired for disability under provisions of Sec. 51-49 and raised allowance from one-fourth to one-third of judge's salary; 1972 act applied provisions to widows of compensation commissioners; P.A. 74-45 amended section to refer to both male and female judges and substituted “surviving spouse” for “widow” accordingly; P.A. 74-183 changed basis for allowance from one-third of “salary of a judge of the court of which her husband or his wife was a judge at the time of such judge's retirement or death” to one-third of the “salary of the judicial office held by such deceased judge at the time of his or her retirement or death”, effective December 31, 1974; P.A. 76-436 changed basis for payments to spouses of deceased judges of common pleas, circuit or juvenile court from one-third of salary of the judicial office held by the deceased judge at the time of retirement or death to one-third of the first step of the salary of a superior court judge and added proviso re payments to spouses of superior court judges who died before becoming eligible for the maximum salary of a superior court judge, reflecting transfer of former courts' functions to superior court, effective July 1, 1978; P.A. 77-515 based payments to spouses of circuit court judges on one-third of common pleas court judge's salary; P.A. 77-576 specified that allowance is to continue for the rest of the surviving spouse's natural life and added provisions re increments in payments, effective July 1, 1978; P.A. 79-631 deleted contradictory provision re allowances for spouses of common pleas or juvenile court judges which had stated amount as one-third of salary for fifth year of service as superior court judge; P.A. 80-337 designated previous provisions as Subsecs. (a), (d) and (e), amended Subsec. (a) to specify applicability to spouses of judges and compensation commissioners who began serving as such before January 1, 1981, and to delete provision re allowances to spouses of deceased chief judges of superior court, amended Subsecs. (d) and (e) to clarify provisions re allowances to children and inserted new provisions designated as Subsecs. (b), (c) and (f) re allowances to spouses of judges and compensation commissioners who began serving on or after July 1, 1981, to spouses of those whose retirement rights had vested under Sec. 51-49a and re definition of “salary”; P.A. 81-472 made technical changes; P.A. 82-248 reworded some provisions and divided Subsec. (a) into subdivisions; P.A. 84-399 deleted references to levels of judicial office, reworded benefit provisions for surviving spouses of judges, changed “monthly” to “annually” and deleted Subsec. (f) re definition of “salary”; P.A. 85-517 added provisions re allowances for surviving spouse of a chief presiding judge of the appellate court and a deputy chief court administrator who was a judge, effective July 1, 1986; P.A. 87-198 substituted “chief judge” for “chief presiding judge”; P.A. 92-226 extended provisions of section to include family support magistrates.

Notation

Cited. 147 C. 656; 213 C. 54.