Q. My 93-year-old father has been retired from the federal government since he was 62. My mother passed away 22 years ago. He wants to marry a very young woman so she can get his pension. I can’t imagine the government would allow this. He is adamant that she will receive his pension if he marries her.
A. Yes, he can elect a survivor annuity for a new wife. However, he needs to keep two things in mind. First, she wouldn’t be entitled to anything unless the marriage lasted for nine months before he died.
Second, the cost of such an election might be prohibitive. To pay for it, there would be two reductions in his annuity. One would be the standard deduction to provide the survivor benefit — a 10 percent reduction if he wanted to provide a full survivor annuity. The other would be a permanent actuarial reduction to pay the survivor benefit deposit. The deposit equals the difference between the new annuity rate and the annuity paid to him for each month since he retired, plus 6 percent interest. The reduction would be determined by the amount he owes divided by his age on the date his annuity is reduced to provide the survivor benefit. We’re talking big money here.
31 Comments
I am divorced from my husband who has a civil service retirement. The spousal annunity has been included in our divorce papers to continue for my benefit. Upon his death I will receive the spousal annunity. If I remarry at any time will my annunity be affected?
Yes, if you remarry before age 55 or if the terms of the order stipulate that the spousal annuity will end if you remarry.
If my x wife remarries is she entitled to my retirement pension?? She got half of my 401k when we divorced in 06, I have a pension from the company I work for as well as my 401k. We both worked at the time of our divorce!!
What your ex-wife is entitled to depends on the terms of the divorce decree ending your marriage.
Ok so her getting remarried doesn’t void this unless stated in the divorce?
I am a retired Air Force Chief Master Sergeant. My wife died 7 years ago, and I plan to remarry soon. Will my new wife receive an ID and be entitled to Tricare for Life supplemental insurance to MEDICARE?
Because this is a site for federal civilian employees and retirees, we aren’t able to answer your question. You’ll have to check with your former branch of service.
My boyfriend is a widower and receives his own retirement pension from the federal government (DEA agent). His late wife was a district attorney for many years, he receives her pension. He claims if he remarries, he will lose all of that benefit. Is this the case?
If his late wife was a federal employee and he remarries before age 55, he would no longer be entitled to a survivor annuity. If he was age 55 or older, remarrying would have no affect on his survivor annuity. We have no idea what the rules would be is his late wife wasn’t a federal employee. You’d have to check with her former employer.
My husband was retired from the Forest Service 12 years ago and receives a pension. His first wife died a year after he retired and the Pension Plan was still deducting the survivorship amount from his pension. We married in 2007, and he realized that I am not eligible for the survivorship because he did not change the spouse information in the time allowed. They are going to refund the survivorship deduction over the last 11 years, but is there anything else we can do to become eligible? What if we divorce,, and then remarry?
He can still elect a survivor annuity for you. However, he’ll have to ask OPM to tell him how much that benefit would cost and then compare it with what he’ll be receiving in his refund. Divorcing and remarrying would make no sense. The cost of electing a survivor annuity would be the same and that remarriage wouldn’t be effective until you had been married for 9 months.
Reg, he has been remarried for 10 years. That is beyond the 2 year window to change a survivor annuity to the new spouse. As far as I know, the only way to get the new spouse a survivor annuity is to divorce and remarry. As you said, they would need to be married at least 9 months.
My husband and I have been together for more than 30 years but married for 12, he was married for 14 years to his ex-wife. When he retires is his ex-wife entitled to any of his pension and if so is there a way we can stop it?
What she is entitled to is contained in the court order ending their marriage. You’ll have to read that document to find out what – if anything – she is entitled to. If she is entitled to something, there’s nothing you can do about it. However, in either case, to protect your future interests, when he retires he should elect a survivor annuity for you.
So if it is part of the divorce, we can’t go back to court and reverse it, or modify it?
As a rule, no. The only way that the divorce decree could me modified is if your ex-wife agreed to the change.
My deceased husband and I had been together for over 25 years. We were married for 13 years.
Divorced but lived together for 9. Then remarried for additional 3 years. When he retired CSRS, he voluntarily elected survivor benefits for me as a former spouse. We didn’t remarry til I was 58.
The election for survivor benefits states it is is for former spouse or spouse.
Since the election was done when I was the former spouse. Am I still entitled to receive the spousal benefits?
I can find answers concerning remarriage to the same spouse and survivor benefits.
According to OPM, all you need to do is provide them with a copy of the divorce decree.
My husband worked for the state dept for 30 years I get his bcbs if I remarry will I loose his bcbs inc .
If I am I correct in assuming that your husband is no longer living and that you are receiving a survivor annuity, with the premiums for your health insurance taken out, then the only question is this: how old are you? If you remarry before age 55, both your survivor annuity and your health insurance coverage would end. If you are older than age 55, both benefits would continue.
im am retired postal service 40 years….am thinking remarrage …how much will it cost me per month for her to get a check ? it used to be like 200.00 a month…..can you pleas give me some kind of idea it will cost now? thank you very much……..not that i no of please help
Anyone electing a survivor annuity after retirement will have two deductions made in his annuity. First is the standard deduction to pay for the survivor annuity, an amount that depends on the amount of survivor annuity elected. Second is a permanent actuarial deduction to pay the survivor benefit deposit. The deposit equals the difference between the new annuity rate and the amount of annuity paid to you for each month since retirement, plus 6 percent.
My father-in-law as a annuity taking out of his pension,for the last 26 yrs.His wife died in 1998,and to this day he thinks he can’t stop the annuity,from coming out of his pension.Is there a law he can turn to that would stop the 10% from going out of his pension.
He (or you on his behalf) should call OPM’s Retirement Information Office at 1-888-767-6738 and explain the situation. He needs to provide them with his full name, date of birth and CSA (Civil Service Annuity) number. Then he’ll need to provide them with his wife’s full name, date of birth and date of death. They’ll ask for a copy of her death certificate, which he can send them. Once that’s done, he’ll be entitled to back payments for all of the money that he should not have had deducted from his annuity. In addition, his annuity will be prospectively restored to what it would have been had he not elected a survivor annuity.
I was on disability from my work record because of cancer until I reached retirement age and now get half of my ex husbands social security. If I remarry now at 66 will I lose my ex husbands social security and pension? The original person I spoke with when I was approved for disability said no because I was over 55 but then when I started getting half my ex husbands at 66, they say if I remarry before my ex husband dies, I lose everything from him.
If you remarry, you cannot receive benefits on your former spouse’s record unless the new marriage ends by death, divorce, or annulment.
My husband’s ex spouse was awarded a annuity when he dies we have been married for 21 years old days i am not entitled to a annuity only the ex is is this true. His ex did remarry before she 55.
If his ex remarried before age 55, her entitlement to a portion of his annuity ended. It could only be reactivated if her current marriage were to end by annulment, divorce or the death of that spouse.
I was married to a post office worker for 27 years. We divorced and I am now engaged and wish to marry, but I am 53. I would like to do a non legal commitment ceremony with my fiancé,, until we can legally wed when I am 55. Will that cause me to lose my portion of the pension? Will cohabitation cause me to lose my portion of the pension? I just don’t know where to get this information.
You’ll have to consult an attorney who is familiar with federal civil service law.
Reg, I am US Navy retired since 1993. My wife of 50 years passed away in 2017. Afterward I stopped the deduction from my retired pay for her spousal benefit had I passed before her. I am now considering remarrying and would like to offer my new wife spousal death benefits, but I note your discussion above of the permanent actuarial reduction. If I do choose to offer her a survivor annuity, since I paid into the survivor benefit program from 1993 to 2017, would I have pay in again from my retirement date, or only from the date that I stopped paying in?