Q: My Aunt passed away in October. She was never married and had no
children. She was retired under the CSRS, and I was named with two others
(one is deceased) as a beneficiary to receive a lump-sum retirement payment. How is the lump-sum amount calculated, and will it be divided
equally between the two living beneficiaries?
A: The lump-sum payment would consist solely of those retirement contributions your aunt made to the retirement fund that had not already been returned to her in her annuity payments. If anything does remain, it would be divided equally among the still-living beneficiaries she named.