Upon the death of any member after retirement for service-connected disability, the member’s retirement allowance as it was at the member’s death if not modified in accordance with one of the optional settlements specified in Article 11 (commencing with Section 31760), shall be continued throughout life to the member’s surviving spouse. If there is no surviving spouse entitled to an allowance hereunder or if the surviving spouse dies before every child of such deceased member attains the age of 18 years, then the allowance which the surviving spouse would have received had the surviving spouse lived, shall be paid to the surviving spouse’s child or children under said age, collectively, to continue until every such child dies or attains said age; provided, that no child shall receive any allowance after marrying or attaining the age of 18 years. No allowance, however, shall be paid under this section to a surviving spouse unless the surviving spouse was married to the member prior to the date of the member’s retirement.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, the benefits otherwise payable to the children of the member shall be paid to those children up to the 22nd birthdays of the children if the children remain unmarried and are regularly enrolled as full-time students in an accredited school as determined by the board.

(Amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 275, Sec. 59. (AB 2101) Effective January 1, 2021.)