40 ILCS 5/3-112

(40 ILCS 5/3-112) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 3-112)

Sec. 3-112. Pension to survivors.

(a) Upon the death of a police officer entitled to a pension under Section 3-111, the surviving spouse shall be entitled to the pension to which the police officer was then entitled. Upon the death of the surviving spouse, or upon the remarriage of the surviving spouse if that remarriage terminates the surviving spouse's eligibility under Section 3-121, the police officer's unmarried children who are under age 18 or who are dependent because of physical or mental disability shall be entitled to equal shares of such pension. If there is no eligible surviving spouse and no eligible child, the dependent parent or parents of the officer shall be entitled to receive or share such pension until their death or marriage or remarriage after the death of the police officer.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, for a person who first becomes a police officer under this Article on or after January 1, 2011, the pension to which the surviving spouse, children, or parents are entitled under this subsection (a) shall be in an amount equal to the greater of (i) 54% of the police officer's monthly salary at the date of death, or (ii) 66 2/3% of the police officer's earned pension at the date of death, and, if there is a surviving spouse, 12% of such monthly salary shall be granted to the guardian of any minor child or children, including a child who has been conceived but not yet born, for each such child until attainment of age 18. Upon the death of the surviving spouse leaving one or more minor children, or upon the death of a police officer leaving one or more minor children but no surviving spouse, a monthly pension of 20% of the monthly salary shall be granted to the duly appointed guardian of each such child for the support and maintenance of each such child until the child reaches age 18. The total pension provided under this paragraph shall not exceed 75% of the monthly salary of the deceased police officer (1) when paid to the survivor of a police officer who has attained 20 or more years of service credit and who receives or is eligible to receive a retirement pension under this Article, (2) when paid to the survivor of a police officer who dies as a result of illness or accident, (3) when paid to the survivor of a police officer who dies from any cause while in receipt of a disability pension under this Article, or (4) when paid to the survivor of a deferred pensioner. Nothing in this subsection (a) shall act to diminish the survivor's benefits described in subsection (e) of this Section.

Notwithstanding Section 1-103.1, the changes made to this subsection apply without regard to whether the deceased police officer was in service on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, the monthly pension of a survivor of a person who first becomes a police officer under this Article on or after January 1, 2011 shall be increased on the January 1 after attainment of age 60 by the recipient of the survivor's pension and each January 1 thereafter by 3% or one-half the annual unadjusted percentage increase (but not less than zero) in the consumer price index-u for the 12 months ending with the September preceding each November 1, whichever is less, of the originally granted survivor's pension. If the annual unadjusted percentage change in the consumer price index-u for a 12-month period ending in September is zero or, when compared with the preceding period, decreases, then the survivor's pension shall not be increased.

For the purposes of this subsection (a), "consumer price index-u" means the index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor that measures the average change in prices of goods and services purchased by all urban consumers, United States city average, all items, 1982-84 = 100. The new amount resulting from each annual adjustment shall be determined by the Public Pension Division of the Department of Insurance and made available to the boards of the pension funds.

(b) Upon the death of a police officer while in service, having at least 20 years of creditable service, or upon the death of a police officer who retired from service with at least 20 years of creditable service, whether death occurs before or after attainment of age 50, the pension earned by the police officer as of the date of death as provided in Section 3-111 shall be paid to the survivors in the sequence provided in subsection (a) of this Section.

(c) Upon the death of a police officer while in service, having at least 10 but less than 20 years of service, a pension of 1/2 of the salary attached to the rank or ranks held by the officer for one year immediately prior to death shall be payable to the survivors in the sequence provided in subsection (a) of this Section. If death occurs as a result of the performance of duty, the 10 year requirement shall not apply and the pension to survivors shall be payable after any period of service.

(d) Beginning July 1, 1987, a minimum pension of $400 per month shall be paid to all surviving spouses, without regard to the fact that the death of the police officer occurred prior to that date. If the minimum pension established in Section 3-113.1 is greater than the minimum provided in this subsection, the Section 3-113.1 minimum controls.

(e) The pension of the surviving spouse of a police officer who dies (i) on or after January 1, 2001, (ii) without having begun to receive either a retirement pension payable under Section 3-111 or a disability pension payable under Section 3-114.1, 3-114.2, 3-114.3, or 3-114.6, and (iii) as a result of sickness, accident, or injury incurred in or resulting from the performance of an act of duty shall not be less than 100% of the salary attached to the rank held by the deceased police officer on the last day of service, notwithstanding any provision in this Article to the contrary.

(Source: P.A. 101-610, eff. 1-1-20.)