Terms Used In Utah Code > Title 49 > Chapter 23 > Part 5 - Death Benefit

• Active member: means a member who:
            (1)(a)(i) is employed by a participating employer and accruing service credit; or
            (1)(a)(ii) within the previous 120 days:

                 (1)(a)(ii)(A) has been employed by a participating employer; and

                 (1)(a)(ii)(B) accrued service credit. See Utah Code 49-11-102
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Beneficiary: means any person entitled to receive a payment under this title through a relationship with or designated by a member, participant, covered individual, or alternate payee of a defined contribution plan. See Utah Code 49-11-102
• Board: means the Utah State Retirement Board established under Section 49-11-202. See Utah Code 49-11-102
• City: includes , depending on population, a metro township as defined in Section 10-3c-102. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
• Compensation: includes performance-based bonuses and cost-of-living adjustments. See Utah Code 49-23-102
• Contributions: means the total amount paid by the participating employer and the member into a system or to the Utah Governors' and Legislators' Retirement Plan under Chapter 19, Utah Governors' and Legislators' Retirement Act. See Utah Code 49-11-102
• defined contribution plan: means any defined contribution plan or deferred compensation plan authorized under the Internal Revenue Code and administered by the board. See Utah Code 49-11-102
• Employer: means any department, educational institution, or political subdivision of the state eligible to participate in a government-sponsored retirement system under federal law. See Utah Code 49-11-102
• Equal: means , with respect to biological sex, of the same value. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
• Final average monthly salary: means the amount computed by dividing the compensation received during the final average salary period under each system by the number of months in the final average salary period. See Utah Code 49-11-102
• Final average salary: means the amount calculated by averaging the highest five years of annual compensation preceding retirement subject to Subsections (5)(b), (c), (d), (e), and (f). See Utah Code 49-23-102
• Firefighter service: means employment normally requiring an average of 2,080 hours of regularly scheduled employment per year rendered by a member who is:
            (6)(a)(i) a firefighter service employee trained in firefighter techniques and assigned to a position of hazardous duty with a regularly constituted fire department;
            (6)(a)(ii) the state fire marshal appointed under Section 53-7-103 or a deputy state fire marshal;
            (6)(a)(iii) a firefighter service employee who is:

                 (6)(a)(iii)(A) hired on or after July 1, 2021;

                 (6)(a)(iii)(B) trained in firefighter techniques;

                 (6)(a)(iii)(C) assigned to a position of hazardous duty; and

                 (6)(a)(iii)(D) employed by the state as a participating employer; or
            (6)(a)(iv) an emergency medical service personnel. See Utah Code 49-23-102
• Inactive member: means a member who has not been employed by a participating employer for a period of at least 120 days. See Utah Code 49-11-102
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Line-of-duty death: means a death resulting from:
            (8)(a)(i) external force, violence, or disease occasioned by an act of duty as a public safety service or firefighter service employee; or
            (8)(a)(ii) strenuous activity, including a heart attack or stroke, that occurs during strenuous training or another strenuous activity required as an act of duty as a public safety service or firefighter service employee. See Utah Code 49-23-102
• Member: means a person, except a retiree, with contributions on deposit with a system, the Utah Governors' and Legislators' Retirement Plan under Chapter 19, Utah Governors' and Legislators' Retirement Act, or with a terminated system. See Utah Code 49-11-102
• Member contributions: means the sum of the contributions paid to a system or the Utah Governors' and Legislators' Retirement Plan, including refund interest if allowed by a system, and which are made by:
       (32)(a) the member; and
       (32)(b) the participating employer on the member's behalf under Section 414(h) of the Internal Revenue Code. See Utah Code 49-11-102
• Month: means a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
• Office: means the Utah State Retirement Office. See Utah Code 49-11-102
• Participant: means an individual with voluntary deferrals or nonelective contributions on deposit with the defined contribution plans administered under this title. See Utah Code 49-11-102
• Participating employer: means an employer that meets the participation requirements of:
       (9)(a) Sections 49-14-201 and 49-14-202;
       (9)(b) Sections 49-15-201 and 49-15-202;
       (9)(c) Sections 49-16-201 and 49-16-202; or
       (9)(d) Sections 49-23-201 and 49-23-202. See Utah Code 49-23-102
• Person: means :
       (24)(a) an individual;
       (24)(b) an association;
       (24)(c) an institution;
       (24)(d) a corporation;
       (24)(e) a company;
       (24)(f) a trust;
       (24)(g) a limited liability company;
       (24)(h) a partnership;
       (24)(i) a political subdivision;
       (24)(j) a government office, department, division, bureau, or other body of government; and
       (24)(k) any other organization or entity. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
• Public safety service: means employment normally requiring an average of 2,080 hours of regularly scheduled employment per year rendered by a member who is:
            (10)(a)(i) a law enforcement officer in accordance with Section 53-13-103;
            (10)(a)(ii) a correctional officer in accordance with Section 53-13-104;
            (10)(a)(iii) a special function officer approved in accordance with Sections 49-15-201 and 53-13-105;
            (10)(a)(iv) a dispatcher who is certified in accordance with Section 53-6-303;
            (10)(a)(v) a full-time member of the Board of Pardons and Parole created under Section 77-27-2;
            (10)(a)(vi) the commissioner of the Department of Public Safety; or
            (10)(a)(vii) the executive director of the Department of Corrections. See Utah Code 49-23-102
• Retiree: means an individual who has qualified for an allowance under this title. See Utah Code 49-11-102
• Retirement: means the status of an individual who has become eligible, applies for, and is entitled to receive an allowance under this title. See Utah Code 49-11-102
• Service credit: means :
       (50)(a) the period during which an employee is employed and compensated by a participating employer and meets the eligibility requirements for membership in a system or the Utah Governors' and Legislators' Retirement Plan, provided that any required contributions are paid to the office; and
       (50)(b) periods of time otherwise purchasable under this title. See Utah Code 49-11-102
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
• Surviving spouse: means :
       (51)(a) the lawful spouse who has been married to a member for at least six months immediately before the death date of the member; or
       (51)(b) a former lawful spouse of a member with a valid domestic relations order benefits on file with the office before the member's death date in accordance with Section 49-11-612. See Utah Code 49-11-102
• System: means the New Public Safety and Firefighter Tier II Contributory Retirement System created under this chapter. See Utah Code 49-23-102
• Tier II: includes :
            (55)(b)(i) the Tier II hybrid system established under:

                 (55)(b)(i)(A) Chapter 22, Part 3, Tier II Hybrid Retirement System; or

                 (55)(b)(i)(B) Chapter 23, Part 3, Tier II Hybrid Retirement System; and
            (55)(b)(ii) the Tier II Defined Contribution Plan (Tier II DC Plan) established under:

                 (55)(b)(ii)(A) Chapter 22, Part 4, Tier II Defined Contribution Plan; or

                 (55)(b)(ii)(B) Chapter 23, Part 4, Tier II Defined Contribution Plan. See Utah Code 49-11-102
• Volunteer firefighter: means any individual who is not regularly employed as a firefighter service employee, but who:
            (14)(a)(i) has been trained in firefighter techniques and skills;
            (14)(a)(ii) continues to receive regular firefighter training; and
            (14)(a)(iii) is on the rolls of a legally organized volunteer fire department that provides ongoing training and serves a political subdivision of the state. See Utah Code 49-23-102
• Writing: includes :
       (48)(a) printing;
       (48)(b) handwriting; and
       (48)(c) information stored in an electronic or other medium if the information is retrievable in a perceivable format. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
• Years of service credit: means :
       (15)(a) a period, consisting of 12 full months as determined by the board; or
       (15)(b) a period determined by the board, whether consecutive or not, during which a regular full-time employee performed services for a participating employer, including any time the regular full-time employee was absent on a paid leave of absence granted by a participating employer or was absent in the service of the United States government on military duty as provided by this chapter. See Utah Code 49-23-102