Upon the death of any state employee, a lump sum payment shall be made (a) for equivalent time off due him for authorized extra hours of work credited to the employee in accordance with existing personnel regulations and (b) for all of the employee’s accumulated vacation allowance which shall be an amount equal to the salary which he would have received had he remained in the service until the expiration of such vacation period. Such payment shall be made upon the establishment of a valid claim therefor, in the following order of precedence: First, to the surviving beneficiary or beneficiaries, if any, lawfully designated by the employee under the state employees retirement system; second, if there is no such designated beneficiary, to the estate of the deceased.