2023 New York Laws › RSS - Retirement and Social Security › Article 8 - New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System › Title 8 - Death Benefits and Disability Retirement › 361 - Accidental Death Benefit.

§  361.  Accidental  death benefit. a. An accidental death benefit and
  the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay shall be payable upon the  death
  of  a  member  if,  upon  application, filed within five years after the
  death of such member the comptroller shall determine, on  the  basis  of
  the evidence, that such member:
1.  Died  before  the effective date of his retirement, as the natural
  and proximate result of an accident sustained in the performance of duty
  in the service upon which his membership was based, and
2. Did not cause such accident by his own willful negligence, and
3. At the time of such accident was actually a member  of  the  police
  and fire retirement system.
  Where   the   claimant  is  an  infant  or  is  mentally  or  physically
  incapacitated, and because of the aforesaid disability  application  for
  accidental  death benefit is not filed within the time specified by this
  subdivision, or where a person entitled to make a claim dies before  the
  expiration  of  the  time  so  specified,  the comptroller in his or her
  discretion may grant leave to file such application within a  reasonable
  time after the expiration of the time specified in this subdivision.
Notwithstanding  the  provisions of section two hundred forty-two, two
  hundred forty-three or two hundred forty-four of the military law or the
  provisions of any other law to the contrary and solely for  the  purpose
  of  determining  eligibility  for  an  accidental  death  benefit and/or
  special accidental death benefit, a member shall be considered  to  have
  died as the natural and proximate result of an accident sustained in the
  performance  of  duty  provided  such  member  was on the payroll in the
  service upon which membership is based at the time he or she was ordered
  to active duty pursuant to Title 10 of the United States Code, with  the
  armed  forces  of  the  United  States  or  to  service in the uniformed
  services pursuant to Chapter 43 of Title 38 of the  United  States  Code
  and  died while on such active duty or service in the uniformed services
  on or after June fourteenth, two thousand five.
b.      The      accidental      death      benefit      and       the
  reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay  shall  be  payable from the pension
  reserve fund. Such accidental death benefit shall consist of  a  pension
  of  one-half  of  the member's final average salary. The payment of such
  pension shall be subject to the  provisions  of  section  three  hundred
  sixty-four  of  this  article.  The  reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay
  shall be paid in a lump sum to those entitled thereto in accordance with
  subdivision d of this section. The  member's  accumulated  contributions
  shall  be  refunded  in  accordance  with subdivision d of section three
  hundred fifty-one of this article.
c. The accidental death benefit payable pursuant to  this  section  on
  account of a member whose:
1.  Service  was  on  other  than a full-time basis at the time of his
  death, and
2. Death was the natural and proximate result of an accident sustained
  while a member and while in the performance of duty, shall be  equal  to
  the  benefit  that  would  be  paid  on  account of such member were his
  service on a full-time basis.
d.  The   pension   on   account   of   accidental   death   and   the
  reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay shall be paid to:
1.  The  member's  widow  or  widower  to  continue  during his or her
  lifetime.  If he or she shall leave no widow or widower, or  if  his  or
  her widow or widower shall die before all his or her children shall have
  attained age eighteen, or if students, before all of his or her children
  shall have attained age twenty-three, or sooner die, then to
2.  His  or her child or children under age eighteen, or, if students,
  his or her children under age twenty-three, divided in  such  manner  as

  the  comptroller, in his discretion, shall determine. Such pension shall
  continue as a joint and survivor pension until every  such  child  shall
  have  attained  age  eighteen, or, if a student, shall have attained age
  twenty-three,  or  sooner die. If no widow or widower or child under age
  eighteen, or, if a student, under age twenty-three, shall  survive  such
  member, at the time of his or her death, then to
3. His or her dependent father or dependent mother, as he or she shall
  have  nominated  by written designation duly acknowledged and filed with
  the comptroller. Such pension shall continue for the life of the  parent
  so designated. If there be no such designation, then to
4.   His   or  her  dependent  father  or  dependent  mother,  as  the
  comptroller, in his discretion,  shall  determine.  Such  pension  shall
  continue for the life of the parent so elected.
For purposes of this subdivision, student shall mean a person enrolled
  in  an  accredited  institution  of higher education for at least twelve
  semester hours for a semester of not less than fifteen weeks,  inclusive
  of  examination  periods;  or  eight  semester  hours  a quarter; or, in
  programs not organized on  a  semester  or  quarter  basis,  twenty-four
  semester  hours  for  an academic year of not more than twelve months or
  the equivalent, as  determined  by  the  commissioner  of  education.  A
  student  shall  be  considered  full-time  for a program organized on an
  academic-year basis only if the student has filed a plan of  study  with
  the institution for the entire academic year.