5 U.S.C. § 8341: Survivor annuities

was married to him for at least 9 months immediately before his death; or is the mother of issue by that marriage; was married to her for at least 9 months immediately before her death; or is the father of issue by that marriage; “dependent”, in the case of any child, means that the employee or Member involved was, at the time of the employee or Member’s death, either living with or contributing to the support of such child, as determined in accordance with such regulations as the Office of Personnel Management shall prescribe; and an unmarried dependent child under 18 years of age, including (i) an adopted child, and (ii) a stepchild but only if the stepchild lived with the employee or Member in a regular parent-child relationship, and (iii) a recognized natural child, and (iv) a child who lived with and for whom a petition of adoption was filed by an employee or Member, and who is adopted by the surviving spouse of the employee or Member after his death; such unmarried dependent child regardless of age who is incapable of self-support because of mental or physical disability incurred before age 18; or such unmarried dependent child between 18 and 22 years of age who is a student regularly pursuing a full-time course of study or training in residence in a high school, trade school, technical or vocational institute, junior college, college, university, or comparable recognized educational institution. Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, if an employee or Member dies after having retired under this subchapter and is survived by a widow or widower, the widow or widower is entitled to an annuity equal to 55 percent (or 50 percent if retired before October 11, 1962 ) of an annuity computed under section 8339(a)–(i), (n), (p), (q), (r), and (s) as may apply with respect to the annuitant, or of such portion thereof as may have been designated for this purpose under section 8339(j)(1) of this title , unless the right to a survivor annuity was waived under such section 8339(j)(1) or, in the case of remarriage, the employee or Member did not file an election under section 8339(j)(5)(C) or section 8339(k)(2) of this title , as the case may be. who retired before April 1, 1948 ; or who elected a reduced annuity provided in paragraph (2) of section 8339(k) of this title ; dies; or except as provided in subsection (k), remarries before becoming 55 years of age. the amount which would otherwise be payable to such widow or widower under this subsection (determined without regard to any waiver or designation under section 8339(j)(1) of this title or a prior similar provision of law), and the amount of the survivor annuity payable to any former spouse of such employee or Member under subsection (h) of this section. The annuity of a survivor named under section 8339(k)(1) of this title is 55 percent of the reduced annuity of the retired employee or Member. The annuity of the survivor commences on the day after the retired employee or Member dies. This annuity and the right thereto terminate on the last day of the month before the survivor dies. 40 percent of his average pay; or the sum obtained under such section after increasing his service of the type last performed by the period elapsing between the date of death and the date he would have become 60 years of age. the amount which would otherwise be payable to such widow or widower under this subsection, and the amount of the survivor annuity payable to any former spouse of such employee or Member under subsection (h) of this section. dies; or except as provided in subsection (k), remarries before becoming 55 years of age. For the purposes of this subsection, “former spouse” includes a former spouse who was married to an employee or Member for less than 9 months and a former spouse of an employee or Member who completed less than 18 months of service covered by this subchapter. 60 percent of the average pay of the employee or Member divided by the number of children; $900; or $2,700 divided by the number of children; 75 percent of the average pay of the employee or Member divided by the number of children; $1,080; or $3,240 divided by the number of children; becomes 18 years of age unless he is then a student as described or incapable of self-support; becomes capable of self-support after becoming 18 years of age unless he is then such a student; becomes 22 years of age if he is then such a student and capable of self-support; ceases to be such a student after becoming 18 years of age unless he is then incapable of self-support; or dies or marries; any lump sum paid is returned to the Fund; and that individual is not otherwise ineligible for such annuity. is entitled to an annuity equal to 55 percent of the deferred annuity of the Member commencing on the day after the Member dies and terminating on the last day of the month before the surviving spouse dies or remarries; or may elect to receive the lump-sum credit instead of annuity if the spouse is the individual who would be entitled to the lump-sum credit and files application therefor with the Office before the award of the annuity. the annuity which would otherwise be payable to such surviving spouse under this subsection, and the amount of the survivor annuity payable to any former spouse of such Member under subsection (h) of this section. the surviving spouse elects to receive this annuity instead of a survivor benefit to which he may be entitled, under this subchapter or another retirement system for Government employees, by reason of the remarriage; and any lump sum paid on termination of the annuity is returned to the Fund. Subject to paragraphs (2) through (5) of this subsection, a former spouse of a deceased employee, Member, annuitant, or former Member who was separated from the service with title to a deferred annuity under section 8338(b) of this title is entitled to a survivor annuity under this subsection, if and to the extent expressly provided for in an election under section 8339(j)(3) of this title , or in the terms of any decree of divorce or annulment or any court order or court-approved property settlement agreement incident to such decree. the amount applicable in the case of such former spouse, as determined under subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, and the amount of any annuity payable under this subsection to any other former spouse of the employee, Member, or annuitant, based on an election previously made under section 8339(j)(3) of this title , or a court order previously issued. under subsection (b)(4)(A) of this section in the case of a widow or widower, if the deceased was an employee or Member who died after retirement; under subparagraph (A) of subsection (d) of this section in the case of a widow or widower, if the deceased was an employee or Member described in the first sentence of such subsection; or under subparagraph (A) of subsection (f) of this section in the case of a surviving spouse, if the deceased was a Member described in the first sentence of such subsection. the day after the employee, Member, or annuitant dies, or the first day of the second month beginning after the date on which the Office receives written notice of the order, decree, agreement, or election, as the case may be, together with such additional information or documentation as the Office may prescribe, except as provided in subsection (k), in the case of an annuity computed by reference to clause (i) or (ii) of paragraph (2)(B) of this subsection, no later than the last day of the month before the former spouse remarries before becoming 55 years of age or dies; or in the case of an annuity computed by reference to clause (iii) of such paragraph, no later than the last day of the month before the former spouse remarries or dies. if such modification is made after the retirement or death of the employee or Member concerned, and to the extent that such modification involves an annuity under this subsection. For purposes of this subchapter, a decree, order, agreement, or election referred to in paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not be effective, in the case of a former spouse, to the extent that it is inconsistent with any joint designation or waiver previously executed with respect to such former spouse under section 8339(j)(1) of this title or a similar prior provision of law. Any payment under this subsection to a person bars recovery by any other person. As used in this subsection, “court” means any court of any State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, or the Virgin Islands, and any Indian court. the death of the employee or Member was accidental; or the surviving spouse of such individual had been previously married to the individual and subsequently divorced, and the aggregate time married is at least 9 months. 1 Subsections (b)(3)(B), (d)(ii), and (h)(3)(B)(i) (to the extent that they provide for termination of a survivor annuity because of a remarriage before age 55) shall not apply if the widow, widower, or former spouse was married for at least 30 years to the individual on whose service the survivor annuity is based. 1 So in original. No subsec. (j) has been enacted. A remarriage described in paragraph (1) shall not be taken into account for purposes of section 8339(j)(5)(B) or (C) or any other provision of this chapter which the Office may by regulation identify in order to carry out the purposes of this subsection. to any individual who, on or after such date, is married to an employee or Member who, on or after such date, retires, dies, or applies for a refund of contributions under subchapter III of chapter 83 of title 5, United States Code, and to any individual who, as of such date, is married to a retired employee or Member, Except as provided in subsection (f), the amendments made by section 3 of this Act [amending sections 8901 to 8903, 8905, 8907, 8909, and 8913 of this title] shall take effect May 7, 1985 , and shall apply to any individual who, on or after such date, is married to an employee or annuitant. in the case of a remarriage occurring on or after the date of the enactment of this Act [ Nov. 8, 1984 ]; and with respect to periods beginning on or after such date. to an employee or Member who retires before, on, or after May 7, 1985 ; and in the case of a marriage occurring on or after May 7, 1985 . The amendments referred to in subparagraph (A) shall not apply in the case of a marriage of an employee or Member retiring before May 7, 1985 , if the marriage occurred after May 6, 1985 , and before the date of the enactment of the Federal Employees Benefits Improvement Act of 1986 [ Feb. 27, 1986 ]. Any election by an employee or Member described in subparagraph (B) to provide a survivor annuity for that individual’s spouse by a marriage described in such subparagraph shall be effective if made in accordance with the applicable provisions of section 8339(j)(1) or 8339(k)(2) of title 5, United States Code, as the case may be, as in effect on May 6, 1985 . Paragraphs (3), (4), and (5)(B) of section 8339(j) of title 5 , United States Code (as added by section 2(3)(A) of this Act), shall apply in the case of a former spouse of an employee or Member whose marriage to such employee or Member terminated before May 7, 1985 , if such employee or Member retires on or after such date. The paragraphs referred to in the preceding sentence shall so apply only insofar as they relate to an election to provide a survivor annuity for a former spouse. The requirement described in clause (ii) shall not apply to an election made by an employee or Member under section 8339(j)(3) of title 5 , United States Code (as amended by section 2(3)(A) of this Act), in order to provide a survivor annuity under section 8341(h) of such title (as amended by section 2(4)(G) of this Act) in the case of a former spouse referred to in subparagraph (A) if the election meets the requirements of clause (iii). The requirement referred to in clause (i) is the requirement prescribed in section 8339(j)(3) of title 5 , United States Code, for an employee or Member to make an election in the case of a former spouse under such section 8339(j)(3) at the time of retirement or, if later, within 2 years after the date on which the marriage of the former spouse to the employee or Member is dissolved. Clause (i) applies to an election which is made by an employee or Member who retires on or after May 7, 1985 , and before the date of the enactment of the Federal Employees Benefits Improvement Act of 1986 [ Feb. 27, 1986 ], and is received by the Office of Personnel Management within the 2-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of such Act. A survivor annuity shall be paid a former spouse as provided in section 8341(h) of title 5 , United States Code (as amended by section 2(4)(G) of this Act), pursuant to an election made in the case of such former spouse under this paragraph. The amendments made by paragraphs (6) and (7) of section 2 of this Act [amending sections 8345 and 8348 of this title] shall apply in the case of survivor annuities and elections authorized by this paragraph. The amendment made by section 2(4)(A) of this Act [amending section 8341 of this title ] (relating to the definition of a widow or widower) and the amendment made by section 2(4)(G) of this Act (but only to the extent that it amends title 5, United States Code, by adding a new section 8341(i)) shall apply with respect to any marriage occurring on or after the date of the enactment of this Act [ Nov. 8, 1984 ]. the retired employee or Member elects, in writing, within eighteen months after the date of enactment of this Act, according to procedures prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management, to have the annuity of such employee or Member reduced under section 8339(j) of title 5 , United States Code, as amended by this Act, and, except as provided in paragraph (3) of this subsection, to deposit in the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund an amount determined by the Office, as nearly as may be administratively feasible, to reflect the amount by which such employee or Member’s annuity would have been reduced had the reduction been in effect since such employee or Member’s annuity commenced, plus interest computed at the annual rate of six percent for each year during which the annuity would have been reduced if the election had been in effect on and after the date the annuity commenced; or the former spouse’s marriage to the employee or Member was dissolved after September 14, 1978 , and before May 8, 1987 ; the former spouse was married to the employee or Member for at least ten years during periods of creditable service under section 8332 of title 5 , United States Code; the former spouse has not remarried before age fifty-five after September 14, 1978 ; the former spouse files an application for the survivor annuity with the Office on or before May 7, 1989 ; and the former spouse is at least fifty years of age on May 7, 1987 . Except as provided in paragraph (3), if a retired employee or Member who makes an election under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) does not make the deposit required by such subparagraph, the Office shall collect the amount of the deposit by offset against the employee or Member’s annuity, up to a maximum of 25 per centum of the net annuity otherwise payable to the employee or Member, and the employee or Member is deemed to consent to such offset. An election made by an individual under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of this subsection to provide a survivor annuity for any person prospectively voids any election previously made by such individual with respect to such person under section 8339(k)(1) of title 5 , United States Code, as amended by this Act, or any similar prior provision of law. Notwithstanding the provisions of such subparagraph (A), an individual who made such an election under such section 8339(k)(1) (or prior provision) shall not be required to make the deposit described in such subparagraph. the former spouse satisfies the requirements of clauses (ii) through (v) of such subparagraph (B); and there is no surviving spouse of the employee or Member and no other former spouse of such employee or Member who is entitled to receive a survivor annuity under subchapter III of chapter 83 of title 5, United States Code, based on the service of such employee or Member which is creditable under such subchapter and there is no other person who has been designated to receive a survivor annuity under such subchapter by reason of an insurable interest in such employee or Member. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘surviving spouse’ means a widow or a widower as defined in paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively, of section 8341(a) of title 5 , United States Code. the total percent increase the retired employee or Member was receiving under section 8340 of such title at death, or in the case of a retired employee or Member whose date of death precedes the one hundred and eightieth day after the date of enactment of this Act [ Nov. 8, 1984 ], the total percent increase the retired employee or Member would have received under such section 8340 had such individual died on the one hundred and eightieth day after such date of enactment, the employee or Member was married at the time of retirement and elected not to provide a survivor annuity for the employee or Member’s spouse at the time of retirement, or the employee or Member failed to notify the Office of the employee or Member’s post-retirement marriage within one year after the marriage, A deposit required by subsection (b)(1)(A) or (c) of this section may be made by the surviving former spouse or spouse, as applicable, of the retired employee or Member. the cost of survivor annuities provided under subsections (b) and (c) of this section, less an amount determined appropriate by the Office to reflect the value of any deposits made under subsection (b)(1)(A), (c), or (d), and the cost of administering subsections (b) and (c). who is entitled to a survivor annuity under subsection (b) of this section or pursuant to an election authorized by reason of the application of subsection (a)(5) of this section, as to whom a court order or decree referred to in section 8345(j) of title 5 , United States Code (or similar provision of law under a retirement system for Government employees other than the Civil Service Retirement System) has been issued before May 7, 1985 , or who is entitled (other than as described in paragraph (2)) to an annuity or any portion of an annuity as a former spouse under a retirement system for Government employees as of May 7, 1985 , For purposes of subsections (a)(1), (b), (c), (d), and (e), ‘employee’, ‘Member’, and ‘former spouse’ each has the meaning given that term under section 8331 of title 5 , United States Code, as amended by this Act. For purposes of subsection (a)(2), ‘employee’ and ‘annuitant’ each has the meaning given that term under section 8901 of title 5 , United States Code. Section 827 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 [ 22 U.S.C. 4067 ] and section 292 of the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement Act of 1964 for Certain Employees [former 50 U.S.C. 403 note] shall not apply with respect to either the amendments made by section 2 [amending sections 8331, 8334, 8339, 8341, 8342, 8345, and 8348 of this title] or the preceding provisions of this section.” the first day of the month following the date of the enactment of this Act [ July 10, 1978 ], or October 1, 1978 , The amendment made by section 206(b) of this Act [amending this section] shall become effective on the first day of the first month which begins on or after the date of enactment of this Act [ Oct. 20, 1969 ]. The annuity of each surviving child who, immediately prior to the effective date of such amendment [amending this section] is receiving an annuity under section 8341(e) of title 5 , United States Code, or under a comparable provision of any prior law, or who hereafter becomes entitled to receive annuity under the Act of May 29, 1930 , as amended from and after February 28, 1948 , shall be recomputed effective on such date, or computed from commencing date if later, in accordance with such amendment. No increase allowed and in force prior to such date shall be included in the computation or recomputation of any such annuity. This paragraph shall not operate to reduce any annuity.” Notwithstanding the time limitation prescribed in subparagraph (A) of section 4(b)(1) of the Civil Service Retirement Spouse Equity Act of 1984 [ Pub. L. 98–615, § 4(b)(1)(A) , set out as a note above], an election may be made under such subparagraph before the expiration of the 12-month period beginning on the date on which the regulations under paragraph (3) of this subsection first take effect. Any retired employee or Member who has made an election under section 4(b)(1)(A) of the Civil Service Retirement Spouse Equity Act of 1984 [set out as a note above] (as in effect at the time of such election) before the regulations under paragraph (3) of this subsection become effective may modify such election by designating, in writing, that only a portion of such employee or Member’s annuity is to be used as the base for the survivor annuity for the former spouse for whom the election was made. A modification under this subparagraph shall be subject to the deadline under paragraph (1) of this subsection. The Office of Personnel Management shall prescribe regulations to carry out this subsection, including regulations under which an appropriate refund shall be made in the case of a modification under paragraph (2) of this subsection.” a surviving spouse of an employee which was terminated under the provisions of section 8341 (b) or (d) of title 5, United States Code, or of any prior applicable law, because of the remarriage of such spouse before July 18, 1966 , and a surviving spouse of a Member who died before January 8, 1971 , which was terminated under any such provision, because of the remarriage of such spouse, In the case of a remarriage occurring after the surviving spouse became sixty years of age, the annuity shall be restored to such spouse under subsection (a) of this section only if any lump sum paid on termination of the annuity is returned to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. If such amount is paid, the annuity shall be so restored commencing on the effective date of this section at the rate which would have been in effect if the annuity had not been terminated. such spouse elects to receive this annuity instead of a survivor benefit to which the spouse may be entitled under subchapter III of chapter 83 of such title 5 or under another retirement system for Government employees by reason of the marriage; and any lump sum paid on termination of the annuity is returned to such fund. of an employee who died, retired, or was otherwise finally separated before July 18, 1966 ; who shall have remarried on or after such date; and who, immediately before such remarriage, was receiving annuity from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund; the remarriage of any widow or widower described in such sentence was entered into by the widow or widower in good faith and in reliance on erroneous information provided by Government authority prior to that remarriage that the then existing survivor annuity of the widow or widower would not be terminated because of the remarriage; and such annuity was terminated by law because of that remarriage;