California Code, Government Code - GOV § 21296

Retirement shall be effective and the retirement allowance shall begin to accrue as of the date designated in the nonmember's application as the effective date of retirement, or the day following the date of court order dividing the community property of the member and nonmember, if later.If the retirement application is not received within nine months of the requested effective date, in no event shall the retirement become effective or the retirement allowance begin to accrue earlier than the first day of the month in which the nonmember's application is received at an office of the board or by an employee of this system designated by the board, or, if the nonmember has been incompetent to act on his or her own behalf continuously from the date of dissolution or legal separation, one year prior to the month in which an application by the guardian of his or her estate is so received. An application for retirement may only be filed by or for a nonmember who is living on the date the application is actually received by this system.The effective date of a nonmember application for retirement received more than nine months after the requested effective date shall be determined in accordance with Section 20160.