§ 464. Accidental and occupationally related death benefit
(a) If the Retirement Board shall find on the basis of such evidence as may come before
it that a Group A, Group D, Group F, or Group G member in service died prior to his
or her retirement under the system as the natural and proximate result of an accident
occurring at a definite time and place during the course of his or her performance
of duty as an employee and that such accident was not the result of the member’s own
gross negligence or willful misconduct, a retirement allowance shall be paid to the
member’s designated dependent beneficiary during the member’s life.
(b) If the Retirement Board shall find on the basis of such evidence as may come before
it that a Group C member in service died prior to his or her retirement under the
system as the natural and proximate result of an accident occurring at a definite
time and place during the course of his or her performance of duty as an employee
and that such accident was not the result of his or her own gross negligence or willful
misconduct, a retirement allowance shall be paid to his or her dependent spouse during
her or his life, or if there be no dependent spouse, or if the dependent spouse dies
before the youngest child of the deceased member has attained age 18, age 23 in the
case of a dependent student, then to his or her child or children under said age until
the youngest of such children attains such age, divided in such manner as the Retirement
Board in its discretion shall determine, provided that the total annual payments to
all such children shall not exceed the retirement allowance that would have been payable
to the dependent spouse. If a member leaves no dependent spouse or child under said
age upon his or her death, then a retirement allowance may be payable at the discretion
of the Retirement Board to his or her dependent parent or parents, provided that the
total allowance payable shall not exceed the retirement allowance that would have
been payable to the dependent spouse. In the case of the payment of a retirement
allowance under this section to a child of a deceased Group C member who is a dependent
student, the retirement allowance shall continue while such child remains a dependent
student until he or she attains age 23.
(c) The retirement allowance payable to the dependent spouse of a deceased member under
this section shall be equal to 25 percent of the member’s average final compensation
at the time of his or her death.
(d) Notwithstanding subsection (c) of this section, a dependent spouse of a deceased Group
C member under this section shall receive as a minimum an allowance that:
(1) If his or her compensation from the State was not subject to Social Security withholding
will; or
(2) If his or her compensation from the State was subject to Social Security withholding
will, when added to survivor’s insurance benefit, be equal to 35 percent of average
final compensation plus 10 percent of average final compensation for each dependent
child, not in excess of three, who has not attained age 18 or, if a dependent student,
who has not attained age 23. Where, pursuant to this section, a retirement allowance
is payable to a child or parent eligible for a survivor’s insurance benefit the allowance
payable under this subsection shall be inclusive of such person’s survivor’s insurance
benefit.
(e) The retirement allowance payable to a dependent spouse under this section who also
qualifies for an ordinary death benefit under section 465 of this title shall in no event be less than the death benefit that would otherwise be payable
to such spouse under section 465 of this title. (Added 1971, No. 231 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; amended 1981, No. 41, § 12; 1985, No. 160 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1989, No. 277 (Adj. Sess.), § 17o, eff. Jan. 1, 1991; 1997, No. 89 (Adj. Sess.), § 7; 2003, No. 122 (Adj. Sess.), § 297a; 2021, No. 114 (Adj. Sess.), § 8, eff. July 1, 2022.)