Q. My husband of six months passed away in April 2005 while an active federal employee. His will made me the personal representative and his daughter (my stepdaughter) as alternate if I should not wish to be the personal rep. After his death, his daughter said she would be the personal rep because I asked her to since the estate would be given to his three children. After his death, I was told that I had no claim on his FERS account since we were not married for a year. But do his grown children? If not, what happens to…
Browsing: Survivor benefits
Q. I retired from federal service under CSRS in 2004 with full survivor benefits provided to my spouse following my death. Will my spouse still be able to receive her Social Security benefits at their full value? If my spouse passes on before I do, are there Social Security survivor benefits that pass on to me or our unmarried daughter, who is dependent on us for support? A. Your spouse would be able to continue receiving her earned Social Security benefit. If she were to die before you, any spousal or survivor Social Security benefit you would otherwise be entitled…
Q. My husband passed away in 2005. He worked for the post office. I receive CSRS survivor benefits. I have legal permanent custody of my 4-year-old grandson. Is he entitled to survivor benefits as my dependent? A. No. Dependents acquired by a survivor after an employee or retiree dies aren’t eligible for survivor benefits.
Q. I am a retired federal employee under CSRS. My wife has worked the requisite number of years under Social Security to qualify her to receive Social Security benefits. If I pass on and she begins to receive survivor benefits from my CSRS pension, will she still be able to apply for and receive Social Security benefits based on her own work? If she does receive Social Security benefits, will there be reductions because of her receiving survivor benefits from CSRS? A. Nothing will alter her entitlement to receive an unreduced Social Security benefit based on her own work record.
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…
Q. My husband will retire in about three years under CSRS Offset. We will both be 65. Will the fact that we are opting for the full survivor benefit affect my Social Security benefits? A. No, it will have no effect on your earned Social Security benefit.
Q. My husband recently retired as a civilian working on a military base as a federal employee. Since I will have my own retirement (state of Virginia and Social Security), we opted for only a 20 percent survivor benefit for me should he die. Did we make a mistake? Since I can draw my own state retirement and Social Security, will this render me ineligible to draw his federal retirement should he die, since I will be drawing my own retirement? Are we wasting money by having that spousal benefit deduction taken from his check? A. I don’t know if…
Q. I am 58 and will be retiring from the Defense Logistics Agency soon with 30 years of CSRS service. Before my government service, I earned 34 Social Security credits. I plan to work part time after CSRS retirement to earn the six credits needed for a small (windfall elimination provision) SSA pension. While the money won’t be much, is it important to get 40 Social Security credits to become eligible for a spousal survivor benefit from my wife’s SSA benefits? A. Because you’ll be receiving an annuity from CSRS, a retirement system where you didn’t pay Social Security taxes,…
Q. My husband and I are civil service retirees. We elected not to provide survivor benefits to each other upon retirement several years ago. Is this irrevocable? I recently read something about the possibility of changing this election if the government declared an open season. I’ve never heard of that occurring for survivor benefits. If this is true, does such an open season happen often? If could reverse our decisions, what type of lump sum or penalty would we incur to elect to provide the benefits? A. There is no such thing as an open season for survivor benefits. The…
Q. If an employee retires and elects an insurable interest for his spouse, will that payment be a monthly payment or a lump-sum payment? Also will the spouse be able to continue in FEHB if the annuitant had self and family coverage? A. First things first. You are required by law to provide a full survivor benefit to your spouse unless 1) there is a court order assigning that benefit to a former spouse or 2) she agrees in writing to a lesser amount or none at all. The insurable interest annuity is designed to provide a benefit to someone…