Upon the occurrence of the death of a participant, there shall be benefits payable in accord with the following sections of this article VI.
If a participant shall die after commencement of benefit payments hereunder or after the participant is eligible to retire under § 23-10 and before retirement benefit payments commence, a survivor benefit shall be paid to the surviving spouse, if any, of the participant in an amount equal to 50% of the participant's accrued benefit as of the date of death. The survivor benefit shall be paid to the surviving spouse until the earlier of the date of death or the remarriage of the surviving spouse. Upon the death or remarriage of the surviving spouse, the survivor benefit shall be paid monthly in equal shares to the surviving children of the deceased participant until the death or attainment of age 18 of each child. The shares payable to the surviving children shall be adjusted as each child ceases to be eligible to receive a share of the benefit hereunder due to death or attainment of age 18.
If a participant shall die before payment of a benefit has commenced and without eligibility for payment of a survivor benefit under § 23-21.3, the beneficiary shall be eligible to receive a distribution in an amount equal to the accumulated contributions of the participant as of the date of death of the participant.
