§ 61. Accidental death benefit. a. An accidental death benefit and the
reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay shall be payable upon the death of a
member if, upon application filed within five years after the death of
such member, the comptroller shall determine, on the basis of the
evidence, that such member:

1. Died before the effective date of his retirement, as the natural
and proximate result of an accident sustained in the performance of duty
in the service upon which his membership was based, and

2. Did not cause such accident by his own willful negligence, and

3. At the time of such accident was actually a member of the
retirement system.
Where the claimant is an infant or is mentally or physically
incapacitated, and because of the aforesaid disability application for
accidental death benefit is not filed within the time specified by this
subdivision, or where a person entitled to make a claim dies before the
expiration of the time so specified, the comptroller in his discretion
may grant leave to file such application within a reasonable time after
the expiration of the time specified in this subdivision.

Notwithstanding the provisions of section two hundred forty-two, two
hundred forty-three or two hundred forty-four of the military law or the
provisions of any other law to the contrary and solely for the purpose
of determining eligibility for an accidental death benefit, a member
shall be considered to have died as the natural and proximate result of
an accident sustained in the performance of duty provided such member
was on the payroll in the service upon which membership is based at the
time he or she was ordered to active duty pursuant to Title 10 of the
United States Code, with the armed forces of the United States or to
service in the uniformed services pursuant to Chapter 43 of Title 38 of
the United States Code and died while on such active duty or in service
in the uniformed services on or after June fourteenth, two thousand
five.

b. The accidental death benefit and the
reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay shall be payable from the pension
reserve fund. Such accidential death benefit shall consist of a pension
of one-half of the member's final average salary. The payment of such
pension shall be subject to the provisions of section sixty-four of this
article. The reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay shall be paid in a lump
sum to those entitled thereto in accordance with subdivision d of this
section. The member's accumulated contributions shall be refunded in
accordance with subdivision d of section fifty-one of this article.

c. The accidental death benefit payable pursuant to this section on
account of a member whose:

1. Service was on other than a full-time basis at the time of his
death, and

2. Death was the natural and proximate result of an accident sustained
while a member and while in the performance of duty, shall be equal to
the benefit that would be paid on account of such member were his
service on a full-time basis.

d. The pension on account of accidental death and the
reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay shall be paid to:

1. The member's widow or widower to continue during his or her
widowhood. If he or she shall leave no widow or widower, or if his or
her widow or widower shall die or remarry before all his or her children
shall have attained age eighteen or sooner die, then to

2. His or her child or children under age eighteen, divided in such
manner as the comptroller, in his discretion, shall determine. Such
pension shall continue as a joint and survivor pension until every such
child shall have attained age eighteen or sooner die. If no widow or
widower or child under age eighteen shall survive such member, at the
time of his or her death, then to

3. His or her dependent father or dependent mother, as he or she shall
have nominated by written designation duly acknowledged and filed with
the comptroller. Such pension shall continue for the life of the parent
so designated. If there be no such designation, then to

4. His or her dependent father or dependent mother, as the
comptroller, in his discretion, shall determine. Such pension shall
continue for the life of the parent so selected.