282.65 PRE-RETIREMENT DEATH BENEFITS PAYABLE TO BENEFICIARIES
In the event a participant dies during employment, without a surviving spouse and without children under age eighteen or, if attending college, under the age of twenty-three years, there shall be no death benefits payable from plan.
282.66 SURVIVOR BENEFITS
(a) In the event a participant with a surviving spouse or children under age eighteen or, if attending college, under the age of twenty-three years, dies, a survivor benefit shall be payable under this section. The survivor benefit shall be equal to fifty percent of the monthly retirement benefit which the participant was receiving or would have been receiving had he/she been retired at the time of his/her death, including for this purpose, any service increment benefit to which the participant was entitled pursuant to Section 282.32, and any cost of living adjustment to which the participant was credited as of his/her date of death.
(b) The survivor benefit provided for in this section shall be payable to the surviving spouse of the deceased participant until such surviving spouse’s death. If there is no surviving spouse of the deceased participant or the surviving spouse subsequently dies, the survivor benefit provided for in this section shall be payable in equal shares to the deceased participant’s child or children who have not attained age eighteen or, if attending college, under the age of twenty-three years, as of the date on which survivor benefit payments under this section would commence. Payments to each surviving qualified child shall cease as of such child’s death or attainment of age eighteen or, if attending college, attaining the age of twenty-three years. Such child’s share of the survivor benefit shall be reallocated in equal shares to any remaining surviving children, then living, who have not attained age eighteen or, if attending college, are under the age of twenty-three years.
(c) The term “attending college,” shall mean the eligible children are registered at an accredited institution of higher learning and are carrying a minimum course load of seven credit hours per semester.
282.67 PAYMENT OF SURVIVOR BENEFITS
Survivor benefits shall be made monthly as of the first day of each month. The first installment of any benefit payable to a survivor shall be payable on the first day of the month next following the date of death of the participant and the last installment shall be payable as of the first day of the month in which occurs either:
(a) The death of the spouse if payments are made to the spouse, and the spouse’s death occurs at a time when there are no surviving children under the age of eighteen or twenty-three if attending college; or
(b) The date when the youngest surviving child attains the age of eighteen, or age twenty-three if attending college, if payments are made to any children of the participant.