Section 27-220-VII-7.7 - PAYMENTS TO BENEFICIARYa. Upon the death of a Participant the Board shall direct that the deceased Participant's Participant Account be distributed to the Beneficiary in accordance with the provisions of this Section 7.7.b. The designation of a Beneficiary shall be made on a form satisfactory to the Board and must be received in the office of the Third Party Administrator prior to the Participant's death. A Participant, or after the death of the Participant, a Beneficiary may at any time revoke his designation of a Beneficiary or change his Beneficiary by filing written notice of such revocation or change with the Board. In the event no valid designation of Beneficiary exists at the time of the Participant's, or surviving Beneficiary's death, the death benefit shall be payable to the Participant's or Beneficiary's estate.c. The Board may require such proper proof of death and such evidence of the right of any person to receive payment of the value of the Participant Account of a deceased Participant, or Beneficiary, as the Board may deem appropriate. The Board's determination of death and of the right of any person to receive payment shall be conclusive.d. Death benefits payable to a Beneficiary shall be made in a form as selected by the Beneficiary in accordance with the available options as indicated in Section 7.4. In the event a Beneficiary fails to make an election as to a benefit distribution option, any benefit payable to such Beneficiary shall be distributed in a lump sum payment in accordance with Code Section 401(a)(9). The terms of any annuity contract purchased and distributed by the Plan to a Beneficiary shall comply with the requirements of the Plan.e. Notwithstanding any provision in the Plan to the contrary, distributions upon the death of a Participant, shall be made in accordance with the following requirements and shall otherwise comply with Code Section 401(a)(9) and the Regulations there under.f. In accordance with the Beneficiary's election, if minimum payments under Code Section 401(a)(9) have not begun upon the death of a Participant and the designated Beneficiary is not the Participant's surviving spouse, death benefit payments must: (i) begin to be distributed to the designated Beneficiary no later than the December 31 of the calendar year immediately following the calendar year of the Participant's death payable over a period not to exceed the life expectancy of the Beneficiary; or(ii) be distributed no later than the December 31 of the calendar year containing the fifth anniversary of the Participant's death.g. In accordance with the Beneficiary's election, if the designated Beneficiary is the Participant's surviving spouse and minimum payments under Code Section 401(a)(9) have not begun upon the death of a Participant, minimum payments to the surviving spouse as the designated Beneficiary must begin by the later of the:(i) December 31 of the calendar year immediately following the calendar year in which the Participant dies, or(ii) December 31 of the calendar year in which the Participant would have attained age 701/2 (age seventy-two (72) with respect to a Participant who would have attained age seventy and one-half (70 1/2) after December 31, 2019). Payments to the surviving spouse as the designated Beneficiary must be made over a period not to exceed the surviving spouse's life expectancy.
h. If no Beneficiary is designated or if no Beneficiary survives the Participant, then payment shall be made to the estate of the Participant in a single lump sum amount equal to the current value of such remaining payments.i. If the Participant dies on or after the date distributions begin and there is a designated Beneficiary, distributions shall be based on the longer of the remaining life expectancy of the Participant or the remaining life expectancy of the Participant's designated Beneficiary.j. Life expectancies calculations will be computed using the factors in the Single Life Table set forth in Section 1.401(a)(9) -9, A-1 of the Regulations, as follows: (i) The Participant's remaining life expectancy is calculated using the age of the Participant in the year of death, reduced by one for each subsequent year.(ii) If the Participant's surviving spouse is the Participant's sole, primary designated Beneficiary, the remaining life expectancy of the surviving spouse is calculated for each distribution calendar year after the year of the Participant's death using the surviving spouse's age as of the spouse's birthday in that year. For distribution calendar years after the year of the surviving spouse's death, the remaining life expectancy of the surviving spouse is calculated using the age of the surviving spouse as of the spouse's birthday in the calendar year of the spouse's death, reduced by one for each subsequent calendar year.(iii) If the Participant's surviving spouse is not the Participant's sole, primary designated Beneficiary, the designated Beneficiary's remaining life expectancy is calculated using the age of the Beneficiary in the year following the year of the Participant's death, reduced by one for each subsequent year.(iv) If the Participant dies on or after the date distributions begin and there is no designated Beneficiary as of September 30 of the year after the year of the Participant's death, the minimum amount that will be distributed for each distribution calendar year after the year of the Participant's death is the quotient obtained by dividing the Participant Account by the Participant's remaining life expectancy calculated using the age of the Participant in the year of death, reduced by one for each subsequent year.27 Miss. Code. R. 220-VII-7.7