Sec. 7. (a) If a participant’s spouse would have qualified for a benefit under section 6 of this chapter, but the spouse does not survive the participant, the dependent child of the participant is, upon the death of the participant, entitled to the same benefit the participant’s spouse would have received under section 6 of this chapter.

     (b) If a surviving spouse of a decedent participant dies while receiving benefits under section 6 of this chapter, and a dependent child of both the surviving spouse and the decedent participant survives them, that dependent child is entitled to receive the same benefit the spouse was receiving under section 6 of this chapter.

     (c) If there is more than one (1) dependent child qualified for the benefit under subsection (a) or (b), the dependent children are entitled to share the monthly benefit equally.

     (d) Each dependent child is entitled to receive the child’s share until the child becomes eighteen (18) years of age or during the entire period of the child’s physical or mental disability (using disability guidelines established by the Social Security Administration), whichever period is longer.

As added by P.L.6-1989, SEC.1.