Board of Trustees of Firemen's Pension & Relief Fund v. Davis

In this appeal from the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, we are asked to examine an order requiring the surviving spouse of a deceased firefighter to repay certain pension benefits which she received from the firefighter’s pension fund. The circuit court ruled that the surviving spouse’s remarriage following the death of the firefighter forever terminated her right to receive those pension benefits, and concluded, as a matter of law, that the later annulment of the remarriage had no legal effect on the surviving spouse’s right to receive pension benefits.

As set forth below, we reverse the…