Q: If an widow is receiving survivor benefits through the Civil Service Retirement System and she remarries, do her benefits stop? A: Yes, if she remarries before age 55. However, if that marriage ends in annulment or divorce, the survivor annuity can be reinstated.
Browsing: survivor annuity
Q: My spouse is a civil service employee and is planning to retire within the next eight months. He is 64 years old and will be 65 in March. He could have retired at age 55 but did not because of personal reasons. His health is beginning to fail him now, and he cannot continue to work in his current capacity. He worked more than 10 years at other companies before joining the civil service. He can receive full retirement benefits from the Civil Service Retirement System, but he is also eligible for a very small Social Security check, they…
Q: My husband is retiring with 40 years in the Civil Service Retirement System. We chose a survivor annuity. At age 62, I am eligible for a reduced Social Security benefit on my own earnings. If he dies, is my CSRS survivor annuity affected by my Social Security benefit, or vice versa? A: As long as you aren’t receiving an earned annuity from a retirement system where you didn’t pay Social Security taxes, neither your CSRS survivor annuity nor your earned Social Security benefit will be affected.
Q: I am 53 years old with 30 years of service under the Civil Service Retirement System. If I were to die before I reach age 55, what would happen to the money I have contributed to CSRS? My wife has been a homemaker with no retirement plan, and I plan on having the spousal support when I do retire. A: If you were to die while still employed, your wife would be entitled to a survivor annuity equal to 55 percent of the annuity you would have received had you retired. There would be no age-based reduction if you…
Q: My wife died 13 years ago. How do I assign my survivor benefits to my common-law wife? A: You can submit new designation-of-beneficiary forms: SF 2823 for Federal Employees Group Life Insurance; SF 2808 for the Civil Service Retirement System or SF 3102 for the Federal Employees Retirement System survivor annuity; and TSP-3 for your Thrift Savings Plan investments (available on the TSP website). Some of these benefits may only be available in a state that recognizes common-law marriages. Check with an attorney to make sure that your state is one of them.
Q: My husband was previously married, and a portion of his retirement was going to his ex-wife. After we married, I signed a paper giving her the full annuity if he were to pass away. My husband has since passed away, and she is now receiving the full amount. As per the papers I signed, if she passes away before me I am to receive the full amount. If she were to pass away, who do I contact, or will they contact me? A: Because your original paperwork specified that you would receive the full survivor annuity if your husband’s…
Q: Can a surviving spouse receive more than one survivor annuity? For example, if a man receives a survivor annuity from his deceased wife, who was a federal employee, then marries another government employee after he turns 55, could he possibly collect a second survivor annuity? A: Generally, a surviving spouse can receive more than one survivor annuity based on the service of more that one employee. However, that can’t happen if the marriage occurred after the employee retired, or if the survivor annuity was reinstated after the surviving spouse remarried before age 55. In either of the latter cases,…
Q: If you are the retiree with survivor benefits and the survivor dies first, what forms do you need to fill out? Do you inform Medicare? Do you change health benefits from family to single? What form do you fill out to remove the survivor benefits? A: All you need to do is call the Office of Personnel Managment at 888-767-6738 to report the death of your spouse. A benefits specialist will guide you through the process and provide the forms your need.
Q: My father retired from federal civil service in 1974. At that time, he elected a survivor annuity for my mother with a base of $1,300. Initially, the Office of Personnel Management took out about $175 a month from his annuity for the survivor annuity, and of course this went up annually via cost-of-living adjustments, the same way his regular annuity did. He passed away in 2009. The OPM has calculated the survivor annuity for my mother, and she is receiving $789 a month net, reduced by $153 for insurance, which leaves $636 a month. Over the 35 years of…
Q: My 76-year-old mother got married last year to a 76-year-old man. After they got married, they were getting about $5,000 a month from his Civil Service Retirement System annuity and about $1,500 a month from her Social Security. Sadly, he had a massive heart attack two weeks ago and passed away. They had been married 11 months. This gentleman had told my mother that he had named her as the beneficiary of his survivor annuity and that she would receive about $3,000 a month if he died first. Will my mother’s $1,500-per-month Social Security be affected by this annuity?…