1. (a) If:

   1. (1) a participant's spouse does not survive the participant; and

   2. (2) the participant did not designate one (1) or more of the participant's surviving dependent children to receive the benefit provided by section 19 of this chapter;

      the participant's surviving dependent children are, upon the death of the participant, entitled to a benefit equal to the benefit the participant's spouse would have received under section 19 of this chapter.

2. (b) If a surviving spouse of a decedent participant dies and a dependent child of the surviving spouse and the decedent participant survives them, that dependent child is entitled to receive a benefit equal to the benefit the spouse was receiving or would have received under section 19 of this chapter.
3. (c) If there is more than one (1) dependent child, the dependent children are entitled to share the benefit equally.
4. (d) Each dependent child is entitled to receive that child's share until the child becomes eighteen (18) years of age or during the entire period of the child's physical or mental disability, whichever period is longer.
5. (e) Except as provided in subsection (f), benefits payable to a dependent child are reduced by the amount, if any, that is payable to the dependent child from the public employees' retirement fund after subtracting the participant's contributions and earnings attributable to the participant's contributions in the participant's annuity savings account.

6. (f) This subsection applies to a dependent child of a participant who is a member of the public employees' defined contribution plan established by IC 5-10.3-12-18 . Benefits payable to a dependent child of a participant under this section are reduced by the actuarial equivalent of the pension portion of the retirement benefit, if any, that would be payable to the spouse (assuming the spouse would have had the same birth date as the participant) from the public employees' retirement fund under the joint and survivor option under IC 5-10.2-4-7 , computed at fifty percent (50%) of the participant's decreased retirement benefit, if the participant had not made an election under IC 5-10.3-12-20 to become a member of the public employees' defined contribution plan.

   [Pre-2004 Recodification Citation: 33-14-9-18.]

As added by P.L.98-2004, SEC.18. Amended by P.L.54-2013, SEC.7; P.L.160-2013, SEC.9; P.L.27-2019, SEC.27.