Maryland State Personnel and Pensions Section 26-402

      (a)      This section applies to the surviving spouse or a child of a retiree in receipt of a service retirement allowance or a disability retirement allowance.

      (b)      On the death of a retiree, the Board of Trustees shall pay 50% of the retiree's retirement allowance to:

            (1)      the surviving spouse; or

            (2)      if there is no surviving spouse or if the surviving spouse dies before the youngest child of the retiree is 18 years old, all children of the deceased retiree who are under 18 years old.

      (c)      If the Board of Trustees pays an allowance to more than one child, the Board of Trustees shall divide the allowance among the children under the age of 18 years in a manner that provides for payments to continue until each child dies or becomes 18 years old.