Should death occur to a member in service who has completed five years of creditable
service, a retirement allowance shall be payable to the member's spouse if said spouse
is the member's designated beneficiary duly approved, acknowledged and filed with
the Board. The annual retirement allowance payable monthly for life shall be 50 percent
of the annual retirement allowance provided in Sections 3-2-32(a)(1) or 3-2-32(a)(2), with creditable service and average final compensation being determined as
of the date of the member's death. Said spouse shall elect in writing within 180 days
of the member's death, or within 90 days of receiving notice from the Board, whichever
comes first, to receive the benefits outlined above in this Section or a lump sum
payment of the member's contributions, plus interest as provided in Section 3-2-28(c); in the event no election is made, said spouse shall receive benefits in the form
of a lump sum. If a death is due to a service-connected accident as defined in Section 3-2-37 and the designated beneficiary under Section 3-2-37(a) is the member's spouse, the spouse shall elect in writing within 180 days of the
member's death, or within 90 days of receiving notice from the Board, whichever comes
first, to receive either the benefits contained in this Section or those contained
in Section 3-2-37(a). In the event of the spouse's death prior to receiving allowances under this Section
equaling the sum of the member's contributions to the System, plus interest, said
sum, reduced by the amount of any retirement allowances previously paid under this
Section, shall be paid to the spouse's designated beneficiary duly approved, acknowledged
and filed with the Board, otherwise to the spouse's estate. (20-81-3; 5-85-3; 20-87-3;
29-09-3; 2-16-3; 09-19-3.)