Death Benefit IP: 96.243.131.58 Posted on September 7, 2009 at 01:23:21 AM by Jeffrey L Smith
The recent slaying of a Tampa police officer got me thinking about my wife and children and my own mortality. When an officer dies in the line of duty it is my understanding that his spouse receives 65% of his base salary tax free for her lifetime as long as she does not remarry. I retired after 22 years of service at 63% of my base salary. I have been married to my first and only wife for 22 years. My health is not so good and I suspect that I will pass at an early age as did my mother, father and grandparents. It troubles me that when my time runs out my wife will only receive half of the 63% of my retirement pension. Why should my wife only receive half of my pension after my 22 years of service? I was once told that when an officer takes a longevity retirement the money set aside is based on a payout to age 83. If this is true than why should the wives of deceased retired officers only get half of their husbands base retirement benefit? The pension would not be loosing any money if they continued to pay the widows the full pension benefit which was based on an expectant age of 83. When I pass my wife will still have to make the same mortgage payment as well as many other bills. It is an insult to treat the spouses of deceased retirees this way. Why can’t we change this to allow the spouses to receive the full retirement benefit the deceased earned? It should not cost the pension any more money to put this in place. Let’s pay the same respect to the widows of all police officers whether their death was while on active duty or retired. Replies: