Subject to the other provisions of this act, upon and after the death of any county employee who shall have served or who shall hereafter have served in the employ of the county continuously or in the aggregate for a period of one year, there shall be paid to the surviving widow, so long as she remains unmarried; surviving widower, so long as he remains unmarried; or minor children up to the age of 18 years, as the case may be, two and one-half per cent of the salary of such employee, and for each additional year of service more than one year, the amount of said pension shall be increased to the extent of two and one-half per cent of said salary, not exceeding in any event 50% of the salary, except, if the deceased employee was at the time of death credited with more than 30 years of service and was 55 years of age or older, the benefit shall be in an amount not to exceed the amount of pension the employee would have received had the employee retired on the date of death, and not to be less than $5,000.00 annually.
N.J.S. § 43:10-18.13