{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-47-47-2-306","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 47, § 47-2-306","heading":"Payments in case of death","body":"A. Upon the death of a retired member or upon the death of any\n\nmember prior to retirement or other termination of covered\n\nemployment, a monthly pension shall be paid which shall be in an\n\namount as provided below:\n\n1. If the member was not retired and death occurred as the\n\ndirect result of the performance of the member’s duties as an\n\nofficer, an amount:\n\na. equal to two and one-half percent (2 1/2%),\n\nb. multiplied by:\n\n(1) twenty (20) years of service, regardless of the\n\nactual number of years of credited service\n\nperformed by the member prior to the date of\n\ndeath if the member had performed less than\n\ntwenty (20) years of service, or\n\n(2) the actual number of years of service performed\n\nby the member if the member had performed twenty\n\n(20) or more years of service,\n\nc. multiplied by a final average salary equal to:\n\n(1) the salary which the member would have received\n\npursuant to statutory salary schedules in effect\n\nupon the date of death for twenty (20) years of\n\nservice if the member did not actually perform\n\ntwenty (20) years of service prior to death. The\n\nfinal average salary for a member who performed\n\nless than twenty (20) years of service prior to\n\ndeath shall be computed assuming that the member\n\nwas paid the highest salary allowable pursuant to\n\nthe law in effect at the time of the member’s\n\ndeath based upon twenty (20) years of service and\n\nwith an assumption that the member was eligible\n\nfor any and all increases in pay based upon rank\n\nduring the entire period. If the salary of a\n\nmember is not prescribed by a specific salary\n\nschedule upon the date of the member’s death, the\n\nfinal average salary for the member shall be\n\ncomputed by the member’s actual final average\n\nsalary or the highest median salary amount for a\n\nmember whose salary was prescribed by a specific\n\nsalary schedule upon the date of the member’s\n\ndeath, whichever final average salary amount\n\nwould be greater, or\n\n(2) the actual final average salary of the member if\n\nthe member had performed twenty (20) or more\n\nyears of service prior to death; or\n\n2. If the member was not retired and death occurred other than\n\nas the direct result of the performance of the member’s duties as an\n\nofficer, an amount equal to the monthly payments which would have\n\nbeen received by the member under subsection E of Section 2-305 of\n\nthis title had the member been totally disabled; or\n\n3. If said member was retired for length of service, an amount\n\nequal to the member’s monthly payments; or\n\n4. If said member was receiving, or eligible to receive, a\n\ndisability benefit pursuant to subsection E or F of Section 2-305 of\n\nthis title, an amount equal to the member’s monthly payments\n\npursuant to subsection E or F of Section 2-305 of this title; or\n\n5. If said member was receiving, or eligible to receive, a\n\ndisability benefit pursuant to subsection G of Section 2-305 of this\n\ntitle, an amount equal to the member’s monthly payments pursuant to\n\nsubsection G of Section 2-305 of this title; or\n\n6. If said member was retired for partial disability, an amount\n\nequal to the monthly payments which would have been received by said\n\nmember had the member been totally disabled.\n\nB. The pension provided for in subsection A of this section\n\nshall be paid:\n\n1. Except as provided in paragraph 4 of this subsection, to the\n\nsurviving spouse, provided the surviving spouse was married to the\n\nmember at the time of the member’s death, and continuously for the\n\nthirty (30) months immediately preceding the member’s death,\n\nprovided a surviving spouse of a member who died while in, or as a\n\nconsequence of, the performance of the member’s duty for the\n\nemployer, shall not be subject to the thirty-month marriage\n\nrequirement for survivor benefits; or\n\n2. If there is no surviving spouse or upon the death of a\n\nspouse:\n\na. to the person having the care and custody of any\n\nsurviving child or children of said member for such\novided a surviving spouse of a member who died while in, or as a\n\nconsequence of, the performance of the member’s duty for the\n\nemployer, shall not be subject to the thirty-month marriage\n\nrequirement for survivor benefits; or\n\n2. If there is no surviving spouse or upon the death of a\n\nspouse:\n\na. to the person having the care and custody of any\n\nsurviving child or children of said member for such\n\ntime as such child or children are under the age of\n\neighteen (18) years, or\n\nb. to the surviving child or children between the age of\n\neighteen (18) and twenty-two (22) years if the child\n\nis enrolled full time in and is regularly attending a\n\npublic or private school or any institution of higher\n\neducation;\n\n3. If there is no surviving spouse or children under the age of\n\neighteen (18) years or under the age of twenty-two (22) years if the\n\nchild is enrolled full time in and is regularly attending a public\n\nor private school or any institution of higher education, to the\n\ndependent parent or parents of said member, for life; or\n\n4. In the event a surviving spouse remarried prior to June 7,\n\n1993, and was a surviving spouse of a member who died while in, or\n\nas a consequence of, the performance of the member’s duty for the\n\nemployer, the surviving spouse shall be eligible to receive the\n\npension benefits provided for in subsection A of this section.\n\nTo receive the pension benefits provided for in subsection A of\n\nthis section the surviving spouse falling within this paragraph\n\nshall submit a written request for such benefits to the Oklahoma Law\n\nEnforcement Retirement System. The Oklahoma Law Enforcement\n\nRetirement System shall approve requests by surviving spouses\n\nmeeting the requirements of this paragraph. Upon approval by the\n\nOklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System, the surviving spouse\n\nshall be entitled to the pension benefits provided for in subsection\n\nA of this section beginning from the date of approval forward.\n\nPension benefits provided to surviving spouses falling within this\n\nparagraph shall not apply to alter any amount of pension benefits\n\npaid or due prior to the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement\n\nSystem’s approval of the remarried surviving spouse’s written\n\nrequest for benefits.\n\nNo surviving spouse shall receive benefits from this section,\n\nSection 49-113 of Title 11 of the Oklahoma Statutes, or Section 50-\n\n117 of Title 11 of the Oklahoma Statutes as the surviving spouse of\n\nmore than one member of the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and\n\nRetirement System, the Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement\n\nSystem, or the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System. The\n\nsurviving spouse of more than one member shall elect which member’s\n\nbenefits he or she will receive.\n\nC. In addition to the pension above provided for, if said\n\nmember leaves a surviving spouse and one or more children under the\n\nage of eighteen (18) years or under the age of twenty-two (22) years\n\nif the child is enrolled full time in and is regularly attending a\n\npublic or private school or any institution of higher education,\n\nFour Hundred Dollars ($400.00) a month shall be paid from said Fund\n\nfor the support of each surviving child to the person having the\n\ncare and custody of such children during such time as said spouse\n\nremains alive and until each child reaches the age of eighteen (18)\n\nyears or reaches the age of twenty-two (22) years if the child is\n\nenrolled full time in and is regularly attending a public or private\n\nschool or any institution of higher education.\n\nD. Upon the death of a retired member, the benefit payment for\n\nthe month in which the retired member died, if not previously paid,\n\nshall be made to the beneficiary of the member or to the member’s\n\nestate if there is no beneficiary. Such benefit payment shall be\n\nmade in an amount equal to a full monthly benefit payment regardless\nublic or private\n\nschool or any institution of higher education.\n\nD. Upon the death of a retired member, the benefit payment for\n\nthe month in which the retired member died, if not previously paid,\n\nshall be made to the beneficiary of the member or to the member’s\n\nestate if there is no beneficiary. Such benefit payment shall be\n\nmade in an amount equal to a full monthly benefit payment regardless\n\nof the day of the month in which the retired member died.","path":["OK Code","Title 47"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os47.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"49b529c59a50964e2bbf4087eccf871f4d15704f525dcebe365e4bce63589c45","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-47-47-2-305.9","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-47-47-2-306.2"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}