Upon the death of a member of the fire department resulting from any cause other than an injury received in, or illness caused by performance of duty,
(a) if the death occurred after qualification for service retirement under Section A8.604-2, or after retirement service or because of disability which results from any cause other than an injury received in, or illness caused by performance of duty, one-half of the retirement allowance to which the member would have been entitled if he or she had retired for service at the date of death or one-half of the retirement allowance as it was at his or her death, as the case may be, shall be continued throughout his or her life or until remarriage to his or her surviving spouse, or
(b) if his or her death occurred after the completion of at least 25 years of service in the aggregate but prior to the attainment of the age of 50 years, one-half of the retirement allowance to which he or she would have been entitled under Section A8.604-2 if he or she had attained the age of 50 years on the date of his or her death shall be continued throughout life or until remarriage to his or her surviving spouse, or
(c) if his or her death occurred after retirement for disability by reason of injury received in or illness caused by performance of duty, three-fourths of his or her retirement allowance as it was at his or her death shall be continued throughout life or until remarriage to his or her surviving spouse, except that, if death occurred prior to qualification for service retirement allowance, the allowance continued shall be adjusted upon the date on which said member would have completed at least twenty-five (25) years of service in the aggregate and attained the age of fifty (50) years, in the same manner as it would have been adjusted had the member not died, or
(d) if his or her death occurred after completion of at least 10 years of service in the aggregate, computed as provided in Section A8.604-10, an allowance in an amount equal to the retirement allowance to which the member would have been entitled pursuant to Section A8.604-3 if he or she had retired on the date of death because of incapacity for performance of duty shall be paid throughout life or until remarriage to his or her surviving spouse. If there is no surviving spouse entitled to an allowance hereunder, or if he or she dies or remarries before every child of such deceased member attains the age of 18 years, then the allowance which the surviving spouse would have received had he or she lived and not remarried shall be paid to his or her child or children under said age, collectively, to continue until every such child dies or attains said age, provided that no child shall receive any allowance after marrying or attaining the age of 18 years. Should said member leave no surviving spouse and no children under age of 18 years, but leave a child or children, regardless of age, dependent upon him or her for support because partially or totally disabled and unable to earn a livelihood or a parent or parents dependent upon him or her for support, the child or children and the parents so dependent shall collectively receive a monthly allowance equal to that which a surviving spouse otherwise would have received, during such dependency. No allowance, however shall be paid under this Section to a surviving spouse unless he or she was married to the member prior to the date of the injury or onset of the illness which results in death if he or she had not retired, or unless he or she was married to the member at least one year prior to his or her retirement if he or she had retired.
As used in this Section and Section A8.604-4 "surviving spouse" shall mean and include a surviving spouse, and shall also mean and include a spouse who has remarried since the death of the member, but whose remarriage has been terminated by death, divorce or annulment within five years after the date of such remarriage and who has not thereafter again remarried.
The surviving spouse, in the event of death of the member after qualification for, but before service retirement, may elect before the first payment of the allowance, to receive the benefit provided in Section A8.604-8, in lieu of the allowance which otherwise would be continued to him or her under this Section. If there is no surviving spouse, the guardian of the eligible child or children may make such election, and if there are no such children, the dependent parent or parents may make such election.
(Added by Proposition C, Approved 11/8/2011)