Section 45-49A-81.12
Benefits for widows and orphans.
(a) In the event of the death of a married employee and if at the time of such death the employee (1) is in the active employment of the city, or (2) is receiving a pension either for disability or for longevity from the city a pension shall be paid to his or her spouse.
(b) The annual amount of such spouse’s pension, which shall be payable monthly, shall be equal to one-half of the amount of pension which the deceased employee, if on a disability pension, was receiving or entitled to receive at the time of his or her death; or one-half of the amount which the deceased employee, if actively employed, would have been entitled to as a pension upon attaining age 55, or immediately if he or she is then age 55 or older as the case may be, if he or she had retired instead of dying on the day of his or her death. In no event, however, will the amount of such spouse’s pension be less than 10 percent of the annual compensation of the employee at the time of his or her death, or 10 percent of his or her annual compensation over the then past four calendar years, whichever shall be the greater. Each such spouse’s pension shall be increased by 10 percent thereof on account of each child under the age of 18; provided, however, that such child or children shall be the natural children of the deceased employee or the spouse, or shall have been legally adopted prior to the death of the employee. Each such additional 10 percent of the spouse’s pension shall cease upon the attainment of the age of 18 by the child on whose account such additional pension is payable or upon such child’s earlier death.
(c) On the death of a widow or widower, or employee divorced or legally separated from his or her spouse, leaving a child or children under the age of 18, provided such children are the natural children of the deceased employee or the spouse, or were legally adopted by the deceased employee and the spouse prior to the date of death of the employee, the part of the spouse’s pension that would have been paid on behalf of each such child shall be doubled and paid to the legally appointed guardian of such child, if any there be, and if not to the person in whose care or custody such child shall be, or such other suitable person as directed by the city council (and such payment to such person shall be a complete release for the city and for the trustee of this pension plan) on an annual basis up to and including the year in which such child attains the age of 18 years.
(d) In the event of the remarriage of a spouse who is receiving a spouse’s pension, such spouse shall receive a lump sum payment of three times the annual pension then payable to him or her, including in the computation of such pension the additional pension being paid on account of children under the age of 15. For those children over the age of 15 and not yet 18 at the time of the remarriage of the spouse, such spouse will receive the amount that would have been paid such children until they reached age 18 had such spouse not remarried. This lump sum payment will be made in lieu of and in full discharge of all further pension payments which the spouse, or children, would otherwise have been entitled to receive.
(e) In the event of the death of a spouse receiving a spouse’s pension from this pension fund, together with an additional amount on behalf of the dependent children under the age of 18 years, the spouse’s pension inclusive of any amount received by him or her on account of such children shall cease, but each of such dependent children shall receive through his or her legal guardian (or to the person and under the conditions as hereinbefore set forth, and with the same relief of responsibility to the city and to the trustee under this part) an annual pension the amount of which for each such dependent child shall be double the amount allowed for him or her in the augmented spouse’s pension. Each such orphan’s pension shall cease after the year in which the child on whose account such pension is payable attains the age of 18 or upon such child’s earlier death, it being understood that the proper payment shall be made upon the eighteenth birthday of such child, but that thereafter no payments shall be made to such child.
(f) Under no circumstances shall the city council of the city raise the compensation of any city employee for the purpose of increasing the employee’s pension benefits upon retirement.
(Acts 1956, 1st Sp. Sess., No. 107, p. 154, §13; Acts 1963, No. 235, p. 636, §13; Acts 1975, No. 929, p. 1854, §1.)