24-6-216. Benefits — Survivor's pension upon death of retirant.

24-6-216. Benefits — Survivor's pension upon death of retirant. (a)(1) In the event a retirant dies and leaves a spouse to whom the retirant was married, the surviving spouse shall receive a pension equal to seventy-five percent (75%) of the retirant's pension, but only if the spouse has under care the retirant's dependent children whose dates of birth are prior to the retirant's date of retirement. (2) When the spouse no longer has under care such a dependent child, the pension shall be reduced to fifty percent (50%) of the retirant's pension. (3) Upon the spouse's remarriage or death, the pension provided for in this subsection shall terminate. (b)(1) In the event a retirant dies and leaves a spouse to whom he or she was married and who does not have under care the retirant's dependent children, the surviving spouse shall receive a pension equal to fifty percent (50%) of the retirant's pension. (2) Upon the spouse's remarriage or death, the pension provided for in this subsection shall terminate. (c)(1) In the event a retirant dies and does not leave a spouse eligible for a pension as provided for in this section, or in the event the surviving spouse dies or remarries and the pension provided for in subsection (a) of this section is terminated, and there is surviving the retirant a dependent child, or children, each such child shall receive a pension of an equal share of seventy-five percent (75%) of the retirant's pension. (2) In no case shall the pension payable to any such child exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the retirant's pension. (d)(1)(A) A child shall be a dependent child until his or her death, his or her marriage, or his or her attainment of age eighteen (18), whichever occurs first. (B)(i) However, the age-eighteen maximum shall be extended as long as the child is continuously enrolled as a full-time student at an accredited secondary school or accredited postsecondary institution of higher education, but in no event beyond his or her attainment of age twenty-three (23). (ii) The eighteen-year maximum shall also be extended for any child who has been deemed physically or mentally incompetent by a court with jurisdiction over the individual or by the Board of Trustees of the State Police Retirement System, for as long as the incompetency exists. (2) Once a child ceases to be dependent, his or her annuity shall terminate and there shall be a redetermination of the amount payable to any remaining dependent children. (3) The board is authorized to establish through rules a means of verification of enrollment in a secondary school or postsecondary institution of higher education by a surviving dependent child under this section for purposes of pension benefits. (e)(1) If a surviving spouse who is receiving survivor's benefits under this section remarries, and the benefits are discontinued, and the surviving spouse again becomes unmarried, benefits provided in this section for the spouse shall be resumed. (2) Benefits shall be resumed for any surviving spouse who had remarried but is unmarried on that date, but no such benefits will be paid the surviving spouse for any period prior to July 1, 1991. (f) Before the date his or her first annuity payment becomes due, but not thereafter, a noncontributory Tier I member may elect to: (1) Receive his or her annuity as a straight life annuity; or (2)(A) Have his or her annuity reduced and nominate a beneficiary in accordance with the option provisions of § 24-6-408. (B) However, in the instance of Option B75 under § 24-6-408(a)(4), the reduced annuity shall be seventy-eight percent (78%) if the retirant's age and his or her beneficiary's age are the same on the first payment due date. The reduced annuity of seventy-eight percent (78%) shall be: (i) Decreased by three-quarters of one percent (0.75%) for each year the beneficiary's age is less than the retirant's age; or (ii) Increased by three-quarters of one percent (0.75%), up to a maximum of ninety percent (90%), for each year that the beneficiary's age is more than the retirant's age.