(a) A judge of a municipal court upon reaching age sixty-eight (68) and having served for a minimum of seven (7) years immediately prior to retirement may retire.
(b)
(1) If incapacitating illness or disability should occur during any term to which a judge has been elected, he or she shall be eligible to retire at one-half (½) pay as provided in this section.
(2) The retirement salary to be paid to the retiree shall be one-half (½) of the salary being paid at the time of retirement for and during his or her natural life.
(c) Notice of retirement shall be in writing and sent to the chair of the board of trustees who, upon finding that the applicant meets the requirements of this subchapter, shall authorize the secretary of the board to issue vouchers in payment to the applicant in accordance with the provisions of this subchapter for and during the natural life of the applicant.
(d)
(1) Upon the death of a judge receiving, or eligible to receive, retirement benefits under this subchapter, leaving a surviving spouse, there shall be paid to the surviving spouse for the remainder of his or her natural life, or until he or she remarries, a sum equal to one-half (½) of the retirement pay which the deceased judge was receiving, or would have been eligible to receive, at the time of his or her death.
(2) Upon the death of a judge while serving in that capacity, leaving a surviving spouse who has been married to and living with the judge for at least five (5) years immediately preceding his or her death, the surviving spouse, if not remarried prior thereto, shall, upon reaching age fifty (50), be entitled to and shall receive, until his or her death or remarriage, benefits in an amount equal to one-half (½) of the retirement benefits to which the deceased judge would have been entitled had he or she been eligible for retirement on the date of his or her death.