How to Fill Out and Submit Florida Retirement System (FRS) Forms

Florida Retirement System forms are the paperwork FRS members file at each stage of their career: enrolling in a plan, switching plans, applying for retirement or DROP, claiming disability, naming beneficiaries, setting tax withholding, and returning to work after retirement. Each task has its own form, its own deadline, and its own rules about notarization and signatures. Picking the right one and filing it correctly keeps your benefit on track.

Enrolling in a Plan as a New Hire

Every newly hired FRS-covered employee has to pick either the defined-benefit Pension Plan or the defined-contribution Investment Plan. The form that locks in your choice is the ELE-1, the General Retirement Plan Enrollment Form.¹

The deadline is firm: 4:00 p.m. Eastern on the last business day of the eighth month after your hire month. Miss it and you default into the Pension Plan with no further opportunity to switch during that enrollment period.¹

Regular class, special risk, and special risk administrative support class employees who already know which plan they want can file the shorter ELE-1-EZ. It asks only for your name, plan choice, last four digits of your Social Security number, date of birth, and signature.¹ Both forms are on the MyFRS website or available through your employer’s HR office.² All FRS members contribute 3% of salary monthly regardless of plan, with the exception of DROP participants.³

Switching Plans Once in Your Career

You get one chance in your FRS career to move from the plan you first chose to the other. The form is the ELE-2, the 2nd Election Retirement Plan Enrollment Form. Once processed, the switch is irrevocable until your FRS employment ends and you retire.⁴

The Plan Choice Administrator must receive the election by 4:00 p.m. Eastern on the last business day of a month in which you are actively employed and earning salary. Anything that arrives after 4:00 p.m. or on a weekend or holiday is treated as received the next business day.⁵

Moving from the Investment Plan back to the Pension Plan can trigger a buy-in cost. If your Investment Plan balance falls short of what is needed to re-enter the Pension Plan, the Division of Retirement sends instructions on the amount due and the deadline. Miss that payment deadline and the election is voided; you remain in the Investment Plan.⁵

Applying for Pension Plan Retirement

The core document for retiring under the Pension Plan is the FR-11, the Application for Service Retirement. Some older references call it the RET-1; the official form number is FR-11.⁶ The Division of Retirement accepts it up to six months before your intended retirement date, and filing three to six months out gives processing time.

The form asks for your Social Security number, date of birth, employer name, and employment history. You sign it in front of a notary public, and your employer must also approve it.⁶ Use black or blue ink on paper versions and confirm your name matches your Social Security records exactly. A name mismatch is one of the most common reasons applications are returned.

Spousal Acknowledgment (SA-1)

If you are married and pick Option 1 or Option 2 on the FR-11, your spouse has to sign the SA-1 Spousal Acknowledgment Form, confirming they understand the chosen option provides no continuing lifetime benefit to them. Your signature and your spouse’s signature must be notarized separately.⁷ The SA-1 goes in with the FR-11.

Payment Options on the FR-11

The FR-11 requires you to pick one of four payment options. The choice controls your monthly amount and what happens after you die, and it cannot be changed after retirement.

Option 1: Highest monthly benefit, payable for your lifetime only. Payments stop at death; your beneficiary receives only a refund of any personal contributions that exceed what you already received.
Option 2: Reduced monthly benefit for your lifetime. If you die within 10 years of retirement, your beneficiary receives the same monthly amount for the remainder of that 10-year period. Nothing after.
Option 3: Reduced monthly benefit for your lifetime. When you die, your joint annuitant, if still living, receives the same monthly amount for the rest of their life.
Option 4: Adjusted monthly benefit while both you and your joint annuitant are alive. When either dies, the survivor’s monthly payment drops to two-thirds of what you were jointly receiving.

Options 3 and 4 require you to name a joint annuitant, typically a spouse. If the joint annuitant is under age 25 and not your spouse, the benefit reverts to the Option 1 amount and stops when they turn 25, unless they are disabled and incapable of self-support.

Entering DROP

The Deferred Retirement Option Program lets Pension Plan members at normal retirement age keep working while their monthly pension accumulates in the FRS trust fund with interest. Your retirement clock freezes; no new service credit accrues. At the end of DROP you receive the accumulated lump sum and start collecting your monthly pension directly.⁸

Two forms get you in: the DP-ELE (Notice of Election to Participate in DROP and Resignation of Employment) and the DP-11 (Application for Service Retirement and DROP). The DP-11 can be filed up to six months before your DROP start date. DROP cannot be made retroactive, so submit the paperwork before the first day of the month you want to begin. If you work for more than one FRS employer, each has to complete their portion of both forms.⁹

DROP participation is capped at 96 months (eight years). Elected officers who deferred termination under Section 121.053, F.S., on or before June 30, 2023, have a shorter cap of 60 months.⁹ At the end of DROP you can take the balance as a lump sum, roll it into another qualified plan, or split it.

Applying for Disability Retirement

Pension Plan members who can no longer perform their job because of a physical or mental impairment apply using Form FR-13. The form asks for a detailed account of the illness or injury, educational background, work history, current physical limitations, any Workers’ Compensation claims, and the names, addresses, and phone numbers of your treating physicians. Your signature must be notarized.¹⁰

The FR-13 includes an authorization letting your doctors, hospitals, previous employers, the VA, Social Security Administration, and Workers’ Compensation release medical records to the Division of Retirement. That authorization remains in effect for the full life of your claim. Your employer separately completes the FR-13A (Statement of Disability by Employer) with your employment dates and whether you could perform your duties before the disability, and a physician’s report is submitted on the FR-13B. In-line-of-duty claims carry heavier documentation requirements from your employer, including pre-employment physicals and First Report of Injury forms.¹⁰

Naming or Updating Beneficiaries

Active or terminated Pension Plan members who have not yet retired use the BEN-001 to name or update beneficiaries who would receive benefits if the member dies before retirement. The form asks for each beneficiary’s name, relationship, date of birth, and percentage share. You can list primary and contingent beneficiaries.¹¹

Investment Plan members use a separate beneficiary form available through the MyFRS portal.¹² Whichever form applies, the designation has to be on file and accepted before your death to take effect. Update it after marriage, divorce, or any major life change; an outdated form can send benefits to someone you no longer intend.

Setting Your Tax Withholding

When monthly pension payments start, federal income tax withholding kicks in automatically. Until you say otherwise, the IRS requires the Division of Retirement to withhold as if your filing status is “Single” with no adjustments, which usually means more tax withheld than necessary.¹³

To change it, file IRS Form W-4P. You can adjust your filing status, claim dependents, or request additional withholding. If you want nothing withheld, write “No Withholding” in the space below Step 4(c). You can also update withholding electronically through the Federal Tax Withholding module in your FRS Online account. Florida has no state income tax, so no state tax is withheld.¹³

Investment Plan Distributions After You Leave

Investment Plan members don’t file a retirement application the way Pension Plan members do. Your employer submits your termination date to the Division of Retirement through the monthly retirement report or FRS Online. Under Florida law, you cannot take an Investment Plan distribution until you have been terminated from all FRS-covered employment for three full calendar months. That includes temporary, part-time, OPS, adjunct, and seasonal positions with any FRS employer, not just your primary one.¹⁴

One exception: if you meet the Investment Plan’s normal retirement requirements, you may qualify for a one-time distribution of up to 10% of your account balance after one complete calendar month of termination, with the remaining balance available after three months.¹⁴

Returning to Work After Retirement

If you retire and later go back to work for an FRS-covered employer, the CERT form (FRS Employment Certification Form) documents your retiree status. Reemployment with any FRS employer during the first six calendar months of retirement is prohibited, and that covers every type of position: full-time, part-time, temporary, seasonal, substitute, adjunct, unpaid arrangements, and work through a third-party staffing agency.¹⁵

Breaking the six-month rule has real consequences. Pension Plan retirees can have their retirement and any DROP participation voided entirely, meaning repayment of all benefits received and reapplication from scratch. Investment Plan retirees must either repay the benefits or end the reemployment. The CERT stays in the employer’s personnel file and is not sent to the Division of Retirement unless requested.¹⁵ Volunteer work for an FRS employer is allowed as long as it complies with Section 121.091(15), Florida Statutes.

Changing Your Address After Retirement

Retired members already receiving benefits use the ADDCH-1 to update their mailing address. It can be mailed to the Division of Retirement’s Retired Payroll Section at P.O. Box 9000, Tallahassee, FL 32315-9000, or faxed to 850-410-2010.¹⁶

How to File, Notarize, and Track FRS Forms

Most forms can be submitted by mail, fax, or online, though the specifics vary by form.

Mail: Division of Retirement, P.O. Box 9000, Tallahassee, FL 32315-9000. Use a tracked mailing service so you have proof of delivery.¹⁷
Fax: 850-410-2010. Make sure notarized signatures reproduce clearly; an illegible notary seal will come back.¹⁶
Online: The MyFRS portal handles plan enrollment elections electronically, and FRS Online lets retirees adjust tax withholding and pull documents like the 1099-R.²

Forms that require notarization, including the FR-11, SA-1, FR-13, and DP-11, must be signed in the physical presence of a commissioned notary public who verifies your identity and applies their seal. Florida notary acknowledgment fees are generally around $10 or less, and many banks and public libraries offer notary service free of charge.

Once a form is in, you can check its status by logging into FRS Online. If the Division of Retirement needs corrections or additional documents, respond fast; replies delayed are benefits delayed. For questions, call the Division of Retirement at 850-907-6500 or toll-free at 844-377-1888.¹⁷

1
Cornell Law Institute. Florida Administrative Code Ann R 19-11-006 – Enrollment Procedures for New Hires
2
MyFRS. Florida Retirement System
3
MyFRS. FRS Programs Comparing the Plans Contributions
4
Florida Retirement System. FRS 2nd Election Retirement Plan Enrollment Form
5
Cornell Law Institute. Florida Administrative Code Ann R 19-11-007 – Second Election Enrollment
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Florida Retirement System. Florida Retirement System Pension Plan Application for Service Retirement
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Florida Retirement System. Florida Retirement System Pension Plan Spousal Acknowledgment
8
MyFRS. FRS Programs Comparing the Plans DROP
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Florida Retirement System. Application for Service Retirement and the Deferred Retirement Option Program
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Florida Retirement System. Florida Retirement System Pension Plan Application for Disability Retirement
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Florida Retirement System. Florida Retirement System Pension Plan Active Member Beneficiary Designation Form
12
MyFRS. FRS Investment Plan Beneficiary Designation Form
13
Florida Retirement System. Withholding Certificate for Periodic Pension or Annuity Payments
14
MyFRS. FRS Employment Termination Form
15
MyFRS. FRS Employment Certification Form
16
Florida Retirement System. Florida Retirement System Pension Plan Address Change Request
17
Florida Department of Management Services. Contact Us