§ 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.)