Coughlin

Appellant Board of Administration of the Public Employees’ Retirement System appeals from a judgment in favor of plaintiff Margaret Coughlin, upholding Coughlin’s claim to death benefits arising from the death of her son, Fred Taylor.

The facts are undisputed; Taylor was a member of the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS), under which benefits were to be awarded his beneficiaries in the event of his death. On January 11, 1979, after he and his second wife initiated an action for divorce, Taylor filed a notice with PERS, designating his mother, Coughlin, as the beneficiary of his death benefits. On June 13, 1979, the divorce action culminated in a final decree of dissolution. When Taylor subsequently died, PERS determined that the benefits should be paid not to Coughlin, but to the adult children of Taylor’s first marriage.

An administrative law judge sustained the PERS determination. However, on Coughlin’s petition for writ of mandate, the superior court disagreed and awarded the benefits to Coughlin.

The issue is whether, under Government Code section 21205, Taylor’s divorce automatically revoked the designation of beneficiary which he filed after…