Cal. Gov't Code § 75079 — Benefits Payable

(a) When a judge elects and becomes entitled to receive the benefits accorded by this article, he or she does not have the right to select an optional settlement under the provisions of Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 75070) of this chapter.

(b) When a judge becomes entitled on and after January 1, 1987, to receive the benefits accorded by this article, the judge may instead elect an actuarially reduced retirement allowance payable for life and if the judge dies before he or she receives the amount of his or her accumulated contributions at retirement, the remaining unpaid amount of his or her accumulated contributions shall be paid to his or her designated beneficiary, if he or she has so designated, and if none, to his or her estate.

The election shall be made in writing and filed with the Judges’ Retirement System within 30 calendar days after the making of the first payment on account of any retirement allowance.

(c) The surviving spouse of a judge who qualifies, as prescribed in Section 75075, to receive the benefits accorded by Section 75076 but who elected to receive the actuarially reduced retirement allowance as provided in subdivision (b) and who dies during retirement shall receive, until death, an allowance equal to one-half of the retirement allowance that would have been payable to the judge if he or she were living and had elected to receive the benefits accorded by Section 75076.