(a) In lieu of benefits provided in Section 21571, 21572, 21573, or 21574, if the death benefit provided by Section 21532 is payable on account of a local member’s death that occurs under circumstances other than those described in subparagraph (F) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 21530, or if an allowance under Section 21546 is payable, the payment pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be made in the following order of priority:

(1) The surviving spouse of the member, who has the care of unmarried children, including stepchildren, of the member who are under 22 years of age, or are incapacitated because of disability that began before and has continued without interruption after the attainment of that age.

(2) The guardian of surviving unmarried children, including stepchildren, of the member who are 22 years of age or are so incapacitated.

(3) The surviving spouse of the member, who does not qualify under paragraph (1).

(4) Each surviving parent of the member.

(b) Regardless of the benefit provided by Section 21532 and of the beneficiary designated by the member under that section, or regardless of the allowance provided under Section 21546, the following applicable 1959 survivor allowance, under the conditions stated and from contributions of the contracting agency, shall be paid:

(1) A surviving spouse who was either continuously married to the member for at least one year prior to death, or was married to the member prior to the occurrence of the injury or onset of the illness that resulted in death, and has the care of unmarried children, including stepchildren, of the deceased member who are under 22 years of age or are so incapacitated, shall be paid one thousand dollars ($1,000) per month if there is one child or one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per month if there are two or more children. If there also are children who are not in the care of the surviving spouse, the portion of the allowance payable under this paragraph, assuming that these children were in the care of the surviving spouse, that is in excess of five hundred dollars ($500) per month, shall be divided equally among all those children and payments made to the spouse and other children, as the case may be.

(2) If there is no surviving spouse, or if the surviving spouse dies, and if there are unmarried children, including stepchildren, of the deceased member who are under 22 years of age or are so incapacitated, or if there are children not in the care of the spouse, the children shall be paid an allowance as follows:

(A) If there is only one child, the child shall be paid five hundred dollars ($500) per month.

(B) If there are two children, the children shall be paid one thousand dollars ($1,000) per month divided equally between them.

(C) If there are three or more children, the children shall be paid one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per month divided equally among them.

(3) A surviving spouse who has attained or attains the age of 60 years, and who was either continuously married to the member for at least one year prior to death, or was married to the member prior to the occurrence of the injury or onset of the illness that resulted in death, shall be paid five hundred dollars ($500) per month. No allowance shall be paid under paragraph (1), or while an allowance is being paid under subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2). The allowance paid under this paragraph shall be five hundred dollars ($500) per month while an allowance is being paid under subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2).

(4) If there is no surviving spouse or surviving child who qualifies for the 1959 survivor allowance, or if the surviving spouse dies and there is no surviving child, or if the surviving spouse dies and the children die or marry or, if not incapacitated, reach 22 years of age, each of the member’s dependent parents who has attained or attains the age of 60 years, and who received at least one-half of his or her support from the member at the time of the member’s death, shall be paid five hundred dollars ($500) per month.

(c) “Stepchildren,” for purposes of this section, shall include only stepchildren of the member living with the member in a regular parent-child relationship at the time of the death of the member.

(d) This section shall only apply to members of a contracting agency that, by amending its contract, first elects on or after January 1, 2000, to make this section applicable to local members employed by the agency. On and after January 1, 2000, contracting agencies already subject to Section 21571, 21572, or 21573 may elect by contract amendment to be subject to this section. A public agency that first contracts with the board or amends its contract to remove exclusions of member classifications on or after July 1, 2001, shall include this section or Section 21574 in its contract. All assets and liabilities of all contracting agencies subject to this section, and their employees, on account of benefits provided under this article shall be pooled into a single account, and a single employer rate shall be established to provide benefits under this section on account of members employed by a contracting agency that is subject to this section.

(e) This section or Section 21574 shall apply to public agencies that employ eligible school safety members, as defined in Section 20444, and that first contract with the board on or after July 1, 2001.

(f) The rate of contribution of an employer subject to this section shall be calculated using a method determined by the board.

(g) In each subsequent year following the enactment of this section, the benefits prescribed by this section shall be indexed at a rate of 2 percent per year for both beneficiaries already receiving the benefit and for potential beneficiaries of members who die in the future.

(Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 21, Sec. 35. Effective June 25, 2001. Applicable from January 1, 2000, by Sec. 37 of Ch. 21.)