Section 13-309. Payment of pensions; death

a. The board of trustees of the
  pension fund shall pay a pension out  of  such  fund  to  the  surviving
  spouse, child or children or dependent parent or parents of any deceased
  member  of  the uniformed force of such department, if the death of such
  member occur during his or her service in such uniformed force, or after
  he or she was retired from service in such uniformed force.  The  amount
  of  any  such pension to be paid by the board of trustees to each of the
  several representatives of such member, in case there shall be more than
  one, from time to time, may be determined by such board according to the
  circumstances of each case. The annual allowance to  the  representative
  or  representatives  of  such  member,  however,  shall  be  six hundred
  dollars, and no part of such sum shall be paid  to  any  such  surviving
  spouse  who  shall remarry, after such remarriage, or to any child after
  it shall have reached the age of eighteen years.
    b. In case any member of the uniformed force  of  such  department  is
  killed  while  actually  engaged in the performance of duty, or if death
  ensues, or results from a disease, as the immediate effect  of  injuries
  received, the board of trustees of such fund, upon evidence submitted to
  it,  shall  have power to decide whether death so occurred and upon such
  decision shall award to the surviving spouse of such  member  an  annual
  allowance  as a pension, to be paid out of such fund in an amount not to
  exceed,  except  as  herein  provided,  one-half  of   the   salary   or
  compensation of such member at the date of his or her decease and in the
  case  of  a  member  acting  in  a  higher  rank an amount not to exceed
  one-half the salary or the compensation of such rank.  If  such  member,
  dying,  leaves  no  surviving  spouse surviving him or her, but leaves a
  child or children, under the age of eighteen years, or dependent  parent
  or  parents,  such board shall award to the legal guardian of such child
  or children, or dependent parent or parents, for its  or  their  support
  and  maintenance, an annual allowance out of such fund, in an amount not
  to exceed one-half of the salary or allowance of such member at the date
  of his or her decease. The amount of such  allowance  to  any  surviving
  spouse  shall  cease  upon his or her death. Such annual allowance shall
  cease upon the death or marriage of such  child,  or  upon  his  or  her
  reaching  the  age  of  eighteen years. If such payment to the surviving
  spouse of any such member shall cease by reason of  his  or  her  death,
  such  board  shall  make payments to the child or children, or dependent
  parent or parents of such member, if any, as though he or she  had  died
  without leaving a surviving spouse.
    c.  (1)  Notwithstanding  the  provisions  of  subdivision  b  of this
  section, in any case where  a  pension  was  or  is  awarded  under  the
  provisions  of  such subdivision, or any predecessor provision by reason
  of the death of any such member, occurring before July  first,  nineteen
  hundred  and  sixty-five,  such  pension,  subject  to the provisions of
  paragraphs two and three of this subdivision c, shall consist:
    (a) For each full calendar year, on and after January first,  nineteen
  hundred  and  sixty-five,  of  a sum as a pension to be paid out of such
  fund and in an amount not to exceed, except as herein provided, one-half
  of the annual salary or compensation payable, on  July  first,  nineteen
  hundred  and  sixty-five,  to  a  member of the uniformed force of rank,
  seniority, and other salary-determining status, equal  to  that  of  the
  deceased  member  on the date of his or her decease, but in no case less
  than one-half of the salary payable to a firefighter first grade on July
  first, nineteen hundred and sixty-five, and
    (b) For any portion of a calendar year, on and  after  January  first,
  nineteen hundred and sixty-five, the appropriate pro rata portion of the
  amount  which would be payable, under the provisions of subparagraph (a)
  of this paragraph one, for the full calendar year  which  includes  such

  portion  of  a  year, if a pension were payable under this subdivision c
  for such full calendar year.
    (2)  Such  pension  shall  be payable to the same persons and shall be
  subject to the same terms and conditions,  including  provisions  as  to
  termination,  as  the  pension  which would otherwise be payable, on and
  after January  first,  nineteen  hundred  and  sixty-five,  pursuant  to
  subdivision  b  of this section or any applicable predecessor provision,
  by reason of the death of such member.
    (3) The pension payable pursuant to the provisions of  paragraphs  one
  and  two  of  this  subdivision  c shall be in lieu of any pension which
  would otherwise be payable on or after January first,  nineteen  hundred
  sixty-five,  pursuant  to  the  provisions  of  such  subdivision  b, or
  predecessor provision, and, except as otherwise  provided  in  paragraph
  one of subdivision e of section 13-686 of this chapter, shall be in lieu
  of  any  supplemental  retirement  allowance  which  would  otherwise be
  payable, on and after such date, under the provisions of subchapter  six
  of chapter five of this title or any other law.