(a) Upon the death of any member who is then receiving retirement benefits and upon the surviving spouse of such member attaining 60 years of age, said spouse shall be paid spouse's benefits which shall be equal to 50 percent of the retirement benefits then being paid to such member. Such benefits shall be paid for the remainder of the life of such surviving spouse. Upon the death of any member prior to retirement, the surviving spouse of such member may elect:

(1) To withdraw the dues paid into the retirement fund by the deceased member plus interest at the rate specified by law, in which case the spouse shall be deemed to have waived any right to any benefits; or

(2) To leave such dues in the retirement fund and to receive spouse's benefits which shall be payable beginning:

(A) On the date of the member's death, if such member is 60 years of age or older; or

(B) On the date on which the surviving spouse of the deceased member reaches 60 years of age,

whichever event occurs last, and which shall be equal to 50 percent of the retirement benefits which the deceased member was drawing at the time of death or, in the case of a member who dies prior to his sixtieth birthday, which such deceased member would have been entitled to receive upon reaching 60 years of age had he lived and ceased service as a judge of the probate court or employee of the board on the date of his death.

(b) As used in this Code section, the term "surviving spouse" means the person who was married to the probate judge or employee of the board on the date of the death of the judge or employee.

(c) Any living retired probate judge drawing retirement benefits on November 1, 1982, who had a spouse on the date of the retirement of such judge, which spouse may survive said retired probate judge, shall be eligible to draw the retirement benefits provided for a spouse under this Code section upon electing to do so; provided, however, that no person may draw both the retirement benefits and spouse's benefits. Spouse's benefits payable under this Code section shall be in lieu of benefits provided in subsection (b) of Code Section 47-11-71.

(d) Any judges of the probate court or any surviving spouses of judges who are receiving benefits calculated pursuant to subsection (b) of Code Section 47-11-71 are authorized to elect to be covered by the provisions of this Code section and to have the benefits which they are receiving or which they may be entitled to receive recalculated in accordance with the provisions of this Code section. Each such election shall be made in writing by July 1, 1983, on forms to be supplied to each such person by the board of commissioners. No additional contributions or dues shall be required of any person to be covered by the provisions of this Code section. In the event that a person who is receiving benefits calculated under subsection (b) of Code Section 47-11-71 elects to be covered by the provisions of this Code section, such person's future benefits shall be recalculated in the same manner as if such person had never received benefits under subsection (b) of Code Section 47-11-71; and such recalculated benefits shall be payable beginning on the first day of the month following the month in which the election is made.