Okla. Stat. tit. 11, § 11-50-117: Payment of pension to beneficiary of member - Amount -

Eligibility - Limitations - Commencement and cessation of benefits.

A. The State Board is authorized to pay a pension to the

beneficiary of any member where requirements for eligibility for

such pension are met as provided in this subsection. The pension

shall be in an amount as the State Board shall provide not exceeding

the accrued retirement benefit or normal disability benefit. Before

any beneficiary of a member shall be entitled to any pension the

member must have complied with any agreement as to contributions by

the member and other members to the System where said agreement has

been made as provided by this article, and the State Board must find

that:

1. The member lost his or her life while in, and in consequence

of, the performance of the member’s duty and through no negligence

on the member’s part; and

2. The member left a beneficiary.

B. The State Board is authorized to pay a pension to the

beneficiary of any member where requirements for eligibility for

such pension are met as provided in this subsection. The member’s

beneficiary shall receive the member’s accrued retirement benefit.

Before any beneficiary of a member shall be entitled to any pension

the member must have complied with any agreement as to contributions

by the member and other members to the System where said agreement

has been made as provided by this article, and the State Board must

find that:

1. The member completed ten (10) years of credited service and

died from any cause; and

2. The member left a beneficiary.

C. If such finding is made, a pension shall be allowed, limited

as provided in this article. The pension shall commence to the

beneficiary of the member within one (1) year of the death of the

member and, except as otherwise provided in this section, shall be

payable over the life of the beneficiary. If the beneficiary is a

child of the member, the pension payments shall cease automatically

when the child reaches eighteen (18) years of age or twenty-two (22)

years of age if the child is enrolled full time and regularly

attending a public or private school or any institution of higher

education.

If the beneficiary is a surviving spouse of a member who

remarried prior to June 7, 1993, and was a surviving spouse of a

member who died while in, or as a consequence of, the performance of

the member’s duty for the employer, the surviving spouse shall be

eligible to receive the pension benefits provided for in this

section. To receive the pension benefits provided for in this

section the surviving spouse falling within this section shall

submit a written request for such benefits to the Oklahoma Police

Pension and Retirement System. The Oklahoma Police Pension and

Retirement System shall approve requests by surviving spouses

meeting the requirements of this section. Upon approval by the

Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System, the surviving spouse

shall be entitled to the pension benefits provided for in this

section beginning from the date of approval forward. Pension

benefits provided to surviving spouses falling within this section

shall not apply to alter any amount of pension benefits paid or due

prior to the Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System’s

approval of the remarried surviving spouse’s written request for

benefits.

No surviving spouse shall receive benefits from this section,

Section 49-113 of this title, or Section 2-306 of Title 47 as the

surviving spouse of more than one member of the Oklahoma

Firefighters Pension and Retirement System, the Oklahoma Police

Pension and Retirement System, or the Oklahoma Law Enforcement

Retirement System. The surviving spouse of more than one member

shall elect which member’s benefits he or she will receive.