(a)Upon the death of a member in service occurring on or after July 1, 1990, a beneficiary designated by the member shall be entitled to receive, in a single sum, for each completed year of service up to a maximum of 6 years, an amount equal to 1/6 of the member's highest annual salary rate within the last 4 years of service. If death occurs prior to completion of the first year of service, the beneficiary shall be entitled to receive, in a single sum, an amount equal to 1/6 of the most recent annual salary rate. If no beneficiary is designated by the member or if no designated beneficiary survives the member, the single sum benefit under this paragraph shall be paid to the eligible dependent beneficiary or to the trust established for such eligible dependent beneficiary, as determined un
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(a) Upon the death of a member in service occurring on or after July 1, 1990, a beneficiary designated by the member shall be entitled to receive, in a single sum, for each completed year of service up to a maximum of 6 years, an amount equal to 1/6 of the member's highest annual salary rate within the last 4 years of service. If death occurs prior to completion of the first year of service, the beneficiary shall be entitled to receive, in a single sum, an amount equal to 1/6 of the most recent annual salary rate. If no beneficiary is designated by the member or if no designated beneficiary survives the member, the single sum benefit under this paragraph shall be paid to the eligible dependent beneficiary or to the trust established for such eligible dependent beneficiary, as determined under paragraph (3) of Section 16-140, or, if there is no dependent beneficiary, to the decedent's estate upon receipt of proper proof of death. (b) If the deceased member had at least 1.5 years of creditable service, had rendered at least 60 days of creditable service within the 18 months immediately preceding death and had not designated a non-dependent beneficiary who survives, a dependent beneficiary may elect to receive, instead of the benefit under subsection (a) of this Section, a single sum payment of $1,000, divided by the number of such beneficiaries, together with a survivor's benefit as specified under the following paragraphs: (1) A surviving spouse, if no eligible children exist, shall receive a survivor's benefit of 30% of average salary, beginning at age 50 or upon the date of the member's death, whichever is later, except that if the member's death occurred before July 1, 1973 and the surviving spouse is less than age 55 on the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997, the survivor's benefit shall begin on the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997 or upon the surviving spouse's attainment of age 50, whichever occurs later. (2) A surviving spouse, regardless of age, who is providing for the support of the deceased member's eligible child, shall receive a survivor's benefit of 30% of average salary, plus the sum of (A) 20% of average salary on account of each dependent child, and (B) 10% of average salary divided by the number of children entitled to this benefit. (3) Each eligible child, if there is no eligible surviving spouse, shall receive upon the death of the member a survivor's benefit equal to the sum of: (A) 20% of average salary, and (B) 10% of average salary divided by the number of children entitled to this benefit. (4) A dependent parent shall receive upon attainment of age 55 or the date of the member's death, whichever is later, a survivor's benefit of 30% of average salary, unless dependency is terminated by remarriage or otherwise. (c) No election under this Section may be made by a dependent beneficiary if a non-dependent beneficiary designated by the member survives such member. (d) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Section, if the member is in receipt of a benefit at the time of his or her death, a dependent beneficiary shall receive a survivor benefit beginning the first of the month following the death of the member. (e) In cases where the changes to this Section or Section 16-142 made by Public Act 87-1265 increase the amount of a single-sum death benefit that has already been paid by the System, the System shall pay to the beneficiary the amount of the increase provided by this amendatory Act.