Current Connection The employee must have a current
connection to the railroad industry at the earlier of retirement
or death to qualify you for survivor benefits under the
Railroad Retirement Act (RRA). Otherwise, the Social
Security Administration (SSA) would pay the survivor benefits.
Age Requirement
If you are receiving an RRA spouse annuity in the month the employee dies,
your benefit will be converted to a widow’s annuity. Only proof of the
employee’s death is needed. Otherwise, you must file an application for your RRA
survivor annuity. When all eligibility requirements are met, a survivor annuity
can begin as explained in Chart 1.
Chart 1 - Determining Your Original
Beginning Date (OBD)
any of the following:
- a widow(er),
- remarried widow(er),
- or surviving divorced spouse,
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at age 60. If you are a widow(er) age 60-61 on your OBD, you are
deemed age 62 on your OBD. This deeming does not apply to
remarried widow(er) or surviving divorced spouse. |
be based on 100% of the
employee’s Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), subject to the family
maximum. It will have an age reduction if you retire before
attaining Full Retirement Age (FRA).
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will have an age reduction if
you are a widow(er) and retire before attaining FRA. A tier 2
benefit is not payable to a remarried widow(er) or a surviving
divorced spouse.
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any of the following:
- a
disabled widow(er),
- remarried disabled widow(er),
- or disabled surviving
divorced spouse,
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between age 50 and age 60 if
you are rated totally disabled. (You are deemed age 60 on your
OBD.) |
be based on 100% of the
employee’s PIA, subject to the family maximum. It will have an
age reduction. |
will have an age reduction if
you are a disabled widower. (You are deemed age 60 on your OBD.)
A tier 2 benefit is not payable to a remarried disabled widow(er)
or a disabled surviving divorced spouse.
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under FRA caring for a child of
the employee as a surviving young mother/father, |
at any age based on child-in-care
as long as the child is entitled to a child’s annuity and the
child is either under age 18 or the disabled child became
disabled before attaining age 22. |
be based on only 75% of the
employee’s PIA, subject to the family maximum. It will not have
an age reduction.
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will not have an age reduction. |
under FRA caring for a child of the employee as:
- a remarried young mother/father or
- a surviving divorced young mother/father,
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at any age based on child-in-care as long as the child is
entitled to a child’s annuity and the child is either under age
16 or the disabled child became disabled before attaining age
22. |
be based on only 75% of the employee’s PIA, subject to the
family maximum. It will not have an age reduction. |
is not payable to a remarried young mother/father or surviving
divorced young mother/father. |
Full Retirement Age
(FRA)
The term Full Retirement Age (FRA) means the age at which the widow(er),
remarried widower, or surviving divorced spouse can receive a full annuity under
the RRA unreduced for early retirement.
The FRA for age reductions for applicants for a survivor annuity who were
born before January 2, 1940, is age 65. The FRA for applicants for survivor
annuities who were born after January 1, 1940, will gradually increase over a
20-year period to age 67, as illustrated in the following chart. If you are
entitled to a Tier 2 benefit, the FRA for your Tier 2 age reduction will be the
same as the FRA for your Tier 1 age reduction.
(Full Retirement Age also affects survivor annuity earnings deductions as
described on Chart 3.)
Chart 2 - Determining Your Full Retirement Age
Before 1-2-1940, |
65. |
1-2-1940 thru 1-1-1941, |
65 and 2 months. |
1-2-1941 thru 1-1-1942, |
65 and 4 months. |
1-2-1942 thru 1-1-1943, |
65 and 6 months. |
1-2-1943 thru 1-1-1944, |
65 and 8 months. |
1-2-1944 thru 1-1-1945, |
65 and 10 months. |
1-2-1945 thru 1-1-1957, |
66. |
1-2-1957 thru 1-1-1958, |
66 and 2 months. |
1-2-1958 thru 1-1-1959, |
66 and 4 months. |
1-2-1959 thru 1-1-1960, |
66 and 6 months. |
1-2-1960 thru 1-1-1961, |
66 and 8 months. |
1-2-1961 thru 1-1-1962, |
66 and 10 months. |
1-2-1962 and later, |
67. |
Marriage Requirements for Widow(er)
Annuity or Disabled Widow(er) Annuity
To be considered the widow(er) or disabled widow(er) of the employee, you
must meet one of the requirements in Chart 1 and must:
- be the legal widow(er) of the employee;
- not have been divorced from the employee at the time
of the employee’s death; and,
- not have remarried after the employee’s death.
A widow(er) or disabled widow(er) must have been married to the employee for
at least nine full months before the employee’s death. If you were married to
the deceased employee less than nine months, ask the nearest RRB field office to
explain any exceptions that might apply.
Requirements For Survivor
Annuity Based on Divorce from the Employee
To be considered entitled to an
annuity based on divorce from the employee, you must meet
one of the requirements in Chart 1 and you must:
- be unmarried and,
- be finally divorced from the employee.
A surviving divorced spouse or disabled surviving
divorced spouse must have been married to the employee for a
continuous period of at least 10 years immediately before
the effective date of the final divorce. Divorce and
remarriage to the employee in the same or following year is
still considered a continuous marriage.
A surviving divorced young mother/father must have the employee’s
child-in-care.
Also, you are not entitled to an annuity based on divorce from the employee
if you are entitled to a different RRA annuity or a social security benefit that
exceeds the RRA annuity based on divorce.
Survivor
Who Remarried After Employee's Death
If you remarried after the employee’s death, an annuity may still be payable
if you meet all the eligibility requirements for a survivor annuity explained
above, except for your remarriage. You may be entitled to a survivor annuity as
a remarried widow(er), disabled remarried widow(er), or remarried young
mother/father if either:
- you are currently unmarried or
- your remarriage occurred after you attained age 60 (or
after you attained age 50 if you were rated totally
disabled before the remarriage occurred.)
Definition of Child-in-Care
A surviving young mother/father, remarried young mother/father, or surviving
divorced young mother/father may qualify for an annuity based on a child of the
deceased employee in care. The child must be entitled to an RRA Child's
Insurance Annuity and be either:
- a minor child under age 16 (age 18 for a surviving young mother/father
annuity) or
- a disabled child with a permanent disability that began before the child
attained age 22 and prevents any type of regular employment.
The term Child-in-Care includes the deceased employee’s unmarried natural
child, adopted child or dependent stepchild, or under certain conditions, a
grandchild whose parents are deceased or disabled. A child is in your care if
you exercise parental control over, and are responsible for, the welfare and
care of the child. If the child is permanently disabled, but mentally competent,
he or she is considered to be in your care if you perform personal services. The RRB will make the final determination regarding the personal services you
perform and whether or not they constitute the child being in your care.
SSA Insured Status
If your survivor annuity is based on an employee who had 60-119 months of
railroad service after 1995, a Tier 1 benefit is payable only if the employee
had an SSA Insured Status based on combined railroad and social security
earnings. Generally, employees had an SSA Insured Status if they had at least
one Quarter of Coverage (QC) for each calendar year after 1950, or after the
year the employee attained age 21, whichever is later, up to the earliest of the
year the employee became disabled, attained age 62, or died.
The Tier 2 benefit is payable, even if the employee lacks the SSA Insured
Status.
Reductions for Non-Railroad Earnings
A survivor annuity is not payable for any month the survivor works for a
railroad or railroad union. For survivor annuities that are not based on
disability, the Annual Earnings Exempt Amount is the amount of non-railroad
earnings you can have in a calendar year without losing part of your annuity.
Survivors who are receiving social security benefits have their railroad
retirement annuity and social security benefit combined for earnings limitations
purposes.
Full Retirement Age (FRA) for survivor annuities is explained in
Chart
2. There are separate Annual Earnings Exempt Amounts for survivor annuitants at FRA and those under FRA. Refer to Form G-77
How Earnings Affect Payment of
Survivor Annuities.
Chart 3 - Determining Work Deductions
you are under your FRA for the entire year, |
$2.00 of earnings over the Annual Earnings Exempt Amount for
your age group. |
applies for the full year. |
you attain FRA, |
$3.00 of earnings over the Annual Earnings Exempt Amount for
your age group. However, your earnings are only counted for
months before the month in which you attain FRA. |
is removed effective the month in which you attain FRA. |
Earnings in Disability Cases
The non-railroad earnings restrictions explained above do not apply to a
disabled widow(er), a remarried disabled widow(er), a surviving disabled
divorced spouse, or to a disabled child.
However, any work or earnings by a disability annuitant must be reported and
are reviewed to determine whether they indicate recovery from the disability.
When a
Survivor Annuity is not Payable
A survivor annuity is not payable for any month in which you work for a
railroad employer or railroad union; or, after you waive entitlement to permit
payment of the Residual Lump-Sum.
Also, a widow(er)’s annuity is not payable for any month in which you receive
a divorced spouse annuity or survivor annuity based on a different RRA claim
number that exceeds your widow(er)’s annuity.
When a
Survivor Annuity Based on Disability Ends
A survivor annuity based on disability ends the earliest of the following:
- A remarried disabled widow(er) or disabled surviving divorced spouse
annuity ends the month before the month in which you become entitled to either
an annuity based on a different RRA claim number or a social security benefit
and the amount of that benefit exceeds your remarried disabled widow(er)
annuity or disabled surviving divorced spouse annuity;
- A disabled widow(er) or disabled surviving divorced spouse annuity ends
the month before the month you remarry;
- A disabled widow(er), remarried disabled widow(er) or disabled surviving
divorced spouse annuity ends two months after the month you recover from
disability; or,
- A disabled widow(er), remarried disabled widow(er) or disabled surviving
divorced spouse annuity ends the month before the month you die.
When a
Survivor Annuity Based on Child-in-Care Ends
A survivor annuity based on child-in-care ends the earliest of the following:
- A surviving divorced young mother/father or remarried young mother/father
annuity ends the month before the month in which you become entitled to either
an annuity based on a different RRA claim number or to a social security
benefit and the amount of that benefit exceeds your annuity based on
child-in-care; or,
- Unless you qualify for an annuity based on your age, a young mother/father
annuity, surviving divorced mother/father annuity or remarried young
mother/father annuity ends the earliest of:
- the month before the month the minor child qualifying you for an annuity
attains age 16 (age 18 for a surviving young mother/father annuity);
- the first full month the minor or disabled child qualifying you for an
annuity is no longer in your care; or,
- two months after the disabled child qualifying you for an annuity
recovers from disability.
Note: A surviving divorced young mother/father or remarried young
mother/father must have been married to the employee for at least 10 years to
qualify for an annuity based on age.
When a Survivor
Annuity Based on Age Ends
A survivor annuity based on age ends the earliest of the following:
- A widow(er) annuity or surviving divorced spouse annuity ends the month
before the month in which you remarry (ask the RRB field office about a few
exceptions that might apply);
- A remarried widow(er) annuity or surviving divorced spouse annuity ends
the month before the month in which you become entitled to either an annuity
based on a different RRA claim number or to a social security benefit and the
amount of that other benefit exceeds your remarried widow(er) or surviving
divorced spouse annuity; or,
- A widow(er) annuity, surviving divorced spouse annuity or remarried
widow(er) annuity ends the month before the month in which you die.
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