Florida Statute 175.171 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title XII
MUNICIPALITIES

Chapter 175
FIREFIGHTER PENSIONS

View Entire Chapter

175.171 Optional forms of retirement income.—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) In lieu of the amount and form of retirement income payable in the event of normal or early retirement as specified in s. 175.162, a firefighter, upon written request to the board of trustees and subject to the approval of the board of trustees, may elect to receive a retirement income or benefit of equivalent actuarial value payable in accordance with one of the following options:

(a) A retirement income of larger monthly amount, payable to the firefighter for his or her lifetime only.

(b) A retirement income of a modified monthly amount, payable to the firefighter during the joint lifetime of the firefighter and a joint annuitant designated by the firefighter, and following the death of either of them, 100 percent, 75 percent, 66 2/3 percent, or 50 percent of such monthly amounts payable to the survivor for the lifetime of the survivor.

(c) Such other amount and form of retirement payments or benefits as, in the opinion of the board of trustees, will best meet the circumstances of the retiring firefighter.

1. The firefighter upon electing any option of this section must designate the joint annuitant or beneficiary to receive the benefit, if any, payable under the plan in the event of his or her death, and may change such designation, but any such change shall be deemed a new election and is subject to approval by the board of trustees. Such designation must name a joint annuitant or one or more primary beneficiaries where applicable. If a firefighter has elected an option with a joint annuitant or beneficiary and his or her retirement income benefits have commenced, the firefighter may change the designated joint annuitant or beneficiary, but only if the board of trustees consents to such change and if the joint annuitant last designated by the firefighter is alive when the firefighter files with the board of trustees a request for such change.

2. The consent of a firefighter’s joint annuitant or beneficiary to any such change is not required.

3. The board of trustees may request evidence of the good health of the joint annuitant that is being removed, and the amount of the retirement income payable to the firefighter upon designation of a new joint annuitant shall be actuarially redetermined taking into account the age and gender of the former joint annuitant, the new joint annuitant, and the firefighter. Each designation must be made in writing on a form prepared by the board of trustees and filed with the board of trustees. If no designated beneficiary survives the firefighter, such benefits as are payable in the event of the death of the firefighter subsequent to his or her retirement shall be paid as provided in s. 175.181.

4. Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, a retired firefighter may change his or her designation of joint annuitant or beneficiary up to two times as provided in s. 175.333 without the approval of the board of trustees or the current joint annuitant or beneficiary. The retiree is not required to provide proof of the good health of the joint annuitant or beneficiary being removed, and the joint annuitant or beneficiary being removed need not be living.

(2) Retirement income payments shall be made under the option elected in accordance with the provisions of this section and shall be subject to the following limitations:

(a) If a firefighter dies prior to his or her normal retirement date or early retirement date, whichever first occurs, no retirement benefit will be payable under the option to any person, but the benefits, if any, will be determined under s. 175.201.

(b) If the designated beneficiary or joint annuitant dies before the firefighter’s retirement under the plan, the option elected is canceled automatically and a retirement income of the normal form and amount is payable to the firefighter upon retirement as if the election had not been made, unless a new election is made in accordance with this section or a new beneficiary is designated by the firefighter before retirement and within 90 days after the death of the beneficiary.

(c) If both the retired firefighter and the beneficiary (or beneficiaries) designated by him or her die before the full payment has been effected under any option providing for payments for a period certain and life thereafter, made pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1)(c), the board of trustees may, in its discretion, direct that the commuted value of the remaining payments be paid in a lump sum and in accordance with s. 175.181.

(d) If a firefighter continues beyond his or her normal retirement date pursuant to the provisions of s. 175.162(1) and dies prior to actual retirement and while an option made pursuant to the provisions of this section is in effect, monthly retirement income payments will be made, or a retirement benefit will be paid, under the option to a beneficiary (or beneficiaries) designated by the firefighter in the amount or amounts computed as if the firefighter had retired under the option on the date on which death occurred.

(3) No firefighter may make any change in his or her retirement option after the date of cashing or depositing the first retirement check.

History.—s. 1, ch. 63-249; s. 2, ch. 65-58; s. 10, ch. 81-168; s. 12, ch. 86-41; s. 924, ch. 95-147; s. 17, ch. 99-1; s. 7, ch. 2009-97.

F.S. 175.171 on Google Scholar

F.S. 175.171 on CourtListener

Amendments to 175.171

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 175.171

Total Results: 1 | Sort by: Relevance | Newest First

Copy

Florida League of Cities, Inc. v. Dep't of Ins. & Treasurer, 540 So. 2d 850 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989).

Cited 11 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 1989 WL 15937

...arry out its responsibility of insuring, through the application of statutory minimum standards, that local plans are managed, administered, operated and funded in such a manner as to maximize protection of pension trust funds. For example, Sections 175.171, 175.181, 175.191 and 175.231, Florida Statutes, upon which these proposed rules are based in part, establish minimum standards which clarify and define Section 175.351(1), and are thereby applicable to both chapter and local law funds......

...ter funds, and thus do not affect the local law funds of the City and other municipalities. We find it unnecessary to discuss these rules further. Rule 4-54.035 Rule 4-54.035 deals with "optional forms of retirement income" and states quite simply, "Section 175.171, Florida Statutes, provides minimum standards for all Chapter Funds and all Local Law Funds." Its stated purpose is to implement section 175.171. Section 175.171(1) provides in part that "in lieu of the amount and form of retirement income payable in the event of normal retirement specified in Section 175.162" (a chapter plan retirement section), a firefighter may elect to receive retirement income in accordance with the enumerated options. Section 175.171(2) states that if a firefighter dies before his normal or early retirement date and has chosen an option under 175.171, his benefits will be paid in accordance with section 175.201 (a chapter plan provision allowing for refund of contributions to the firefighter's heirs). The City argues that the proposed rule improperly applies section 175.171 to local law plans because it contradicts, first, the express provisions in section 175.321 defining which sections of chapter 175 are applicable to local law plans and, second, the explicit provision in section 175.351(6) allowing local law plans to incorporate death or survivor benefits "as the municipalities wish" so long as such benefits do not exceed the stated limitations. All parties apparently agree that the refund provisions *863 in section 175.201, referred to in section 175.171, apply only to chapter plans. The Department and the hearing officer rely upon the Department's construction of section 175.021 as amended and the Department's invalid test as authority for applying section 175.171 by implication to local law plans. We agree with the City's argument. Although section 175.171 was amended by chapter 86-41, the amending bill did not contain any expression by the legislature that section 175.171 would be applicable to local law plans. Since we have rejected the Department's construction of the 1986 amendments as making applicable by implication other provisions of chapter 175 to local law plans, we hold that section 175.171 is not applicable to local law plans and that rule 4-54.035 is invalid for exceeding the Department's delegated legislative authority....

This Florida statute resource is curated by Graham W. Syfert, Esq., a Jacksonville, Florida personal injury and workers' compensation attorney. For legal consultation, call 904-383-7448.