The Florida Senate

175.181  Beneficiaries.--For any municipality, special fire control district, chapter plan, local law municipality, local law special fire control district, or local law plan under this chapter:

(1)  Each firefighter may, on a form provided for that purpose, signed and filed with the board of trustees, designate a choice of one or more persons, named sequentially or jointly, as his or her beneficiary (or beneficiaries) to receive the benefit, if any, which may be payable in the event of his or her death; and each designation may be revoked by such firefighter by signing and filing with the board of trustees a new designation-of-beneficiary form.

(2)  If no beneficiary is named in the manner provided by subsection (1), or if no beneficiary designated by the member survives him or her, the death benefit, if any, which may be payable under the plan with respect to such deceased firefighter shall be paid by the board of trustees to the estate of such deceased firefighter, provided that the board of trustees, in its discretion, may direct that the commuted value of the remaining monthly income payments be paid in a lump sum. Any payment made to any person pursuant to this subsection shall operate as a complete discharge of all obligations under the plan with regard to the deceased firefighter and any other persons with rights under the plan and shall not be subject to review by anyone but shall be final, binding, and conclusive on all persons ever interested hereunder.

(3)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the surviving spouse of any pension participant member killed in the line of duty shall not lose survivor retirement benefits if the spouse remarries. The surviving spouse of such deceased member whose benefit terminated because of remarriage shall have the benefit reinstated as of July 1, 1994, at an amount that would have been payable had such benefit not been terminated.

History.--s. 1, ch. 63-249; s. 11, ch. 81-168; s. 4, ch. 94-171; s. 1450, ch. 95-147; s. 18, ch. 99-1; s. 2, ch. 2000-159.