N.J. Stat. § 43:3A-2
The board of trustees of any such pension or retirement system or fund shall, after the receipt of such certificate, make payment of any pension which would have been payable to the dependent or dependents of such person, if proof of his actual death were submitted to such trustees, from the time so certified as the date upon which such person's death is presumed to have occurred until such time as proof shall be made to them that such person was or is actually alive or is actually dead, or as a certified copy of a declaration of the death of such person made by a court of competent jurisdiction of this State, shall be filed with them and said board of trustees shall be fully discharged and saved harmless from any and all liability for payment or repayment of any sum so paid in event that the said person shall be proved to be or to have been alive at the time when any such payment was made.
N.J.S. § 43:3A-2