Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) Where a member of the scheme who is a recipient member dies and is survived by a spouse, then, subject to sections 47 and 75, the spouse is entitled to a pension at a rate equal to five - eighths of the rate at which retirement pay or invalidity pay was payable to the deceased member immediately before the member's death or, if the member had commuted a portion of the member's retirement pay under section 24 or a portion of the member's invalidity pay under section 32A, at a rate equal to five - eighths of the rate at which retirement pay or invalidity pay, as the case may be, would have been payable to the member immediately before the member's death if the member had not so commuted a portion of the member's retirement pay or invalidity pay, as the case may be.
(2) In spite of subsection (1), if, on any of the 7 pay - days immediately following the death of a recipient member, the rate at which pension would, apart from this subsection, be payable to the spouse of the member is less than the rate (in this subsection called the putative rate ) at which retirement pay or invalidity pay (as the case may be) would be payable to the deceased member on that day if the member had not died, the spouse is entitled to a pension at a rate equal to the putative rate.