If you are in good health and you retire for reasons other than disability, you may elect to provide a survivor annuity to someone with an insurable interest. You can elect to provide an insurable interest benefit and the maximum benefit for a spouse or an ex-spouse. Spousal consent is not required. However, if you are married and elect an insurable interest benefit for your spouse, spousal consent is required.

If you elect an insurable interest benefit, you are responsible for arranging for and paying the cost of any medical examination required to show you are in good health. A report of the medical examination should be included with your retirement application.

You can elect to provide an insurable interest annuity only for someone who has an insurable interest in you. "Insurable interest" is an insurance term which applies to someone who would reasonably expect to derive financial benefit from your continued life. For survivor benefit election purposes, an insurable interest is presumed to exist if you name as beneficiary of the insurable interest, any of the following individuals:

• a spouse;
• a blood or adopted relative closer than first cousins;
• an ex-spouse;
• a person to whom you are engaged to be married; or
• a person with whom you are living in a relationship that would constitute a common-law marriage in a jurisdiction that recognizes common-law marriages.

If the person named is not one of the above, you should submit affidavits with your retirement application from one or more people with knowledge of the individual's insurable interest. The affidavits should state:

• the relationship between you;
• the extent to which the person named is dependent on you;
• the reasons why the person named might reasonably expect to derive financial benefit from your continued life.

The reduction to provide an insurable interest benefit is computed as follows:

• If the person named is older, the same age, or less than 5 years younger than the retiree, the reduction is 10 percent;
• If the person named is 5 but less than 10 years younger than the retiree, the reduction is 15 percent;
• If the person named is 10 but less than 15 years younger than the retiree, the reduction is 20 percent;
• If the person named is 15 but less than 20 years younger than the retiree, the reduction is 25 percent;
• If the person named is 20 but less than 25 years younger than the retiree, the reduction is 30 percent;
• If the person named is 25 but less than 30 years younger than the retiree, the reduction is 35 percent; or
• If the person named is 30 or more years younger than the retiree, the reduction is 40 percent.

The insurable interest automatically ends if the insurable interest dies, if you marry the insurable interest and elect to provide a spousal benefit, or if the named person is your spouse and you change your election to provide a spousal survivor benefit.

If it is within 30 days of your first regular annuity payment, you may file a new election in writing. You should send the election to:

U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Retirement Operations Center
Post Office Box 45
Boyers, PA 16017

Your first regular monthly payment is the first one paid in an amount other than the estimated amount or the adjustment payment after we have computed your regular annuity amount.

If you change your election to anything other than the maximum, you must obtain your spouse's consent or a waiver of the consent requirement.

After the 30 day period has passed, you can change your election only under the following circumstances.

If it is more than 30 days from the date of your first regular monthly payment, but less than 18 months from the beginning date of your annuity, you may change your decision not to provide a survivor annuity or you can increase the survivor annuity amount. You must request the change in writing at:

U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Retirement Operations Center
Post Office Box 45
Boyers, PA 16017

You must also pay a one-time payment representing the difference between the old and new election amounts. This one-time payment also includes a percentage of your annual benefit. The percentage is 24.5 percent of your annual benefit if you are changing from no survivor benefit to a full survivor benefit or 12.25 percent if you are changing from no survivor benefit to a partial one. Interest is also charged at the rates shown in this table.

Your written election should include your claim number, the amount of your new survivor election, and your spouse's name, social security number, date of birth, and a copy of your marriage certificate.

If you get married after retirement, you can elect a reduced annuity to provide a survivor annuity for your spouse. You must make this election within two years of the date of your marriage.

Under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), you can elect any portion of your annuity as a basis for the survivor benefit payable in the event of your death.

Under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), a full benefit is 50 percent of your unreduced annual basic annuity and a partial benefit is 25 percent of your unreduced annual basic annuity.

If you remarry the same person to whom you were married at retirement, you cannot elect a survivor annuity greater than the one you elected at retirement.

There will be two reductions in your annuity if you elect to provide the survivor benefit. One will be the reduction to provide the survivor benefit. The first reduction depends the amount you elect for the survivor annuity.

Your annuity is also reduced by a permanent actuarial reduction equal to the difference between the new annuity rate with the survivor benefit and the old one without the survivor benefit since your retirement, plus 6 percent interest. In most cases, the actuarial reduction amount is less than 5 percent of your annuity. The actuarial reduction continues even if the marriage ends.

When you contact us, we will send you a statement describing the cost of the election and ask you to confirm your election.

If your marriage ends after retirement, you can elect a reduced annuity to provide a survivor benefits for your former spouse. To make an election, you must notify us in writing within two years of the date the marriage ended. You should include a court-certified copy of the decree effecting the dissolution of the marriage, and any property or marital settlement agreement. See where to send the court order.

If you were married to the former spouse when you retired and he or she consented to an election of less than the maximum survivor benefit, you cannot provide a benefit that is larger than your original election. The calculation of the reduction in your annuity to provide the benefit for an ex-spouse is the same as the reduction for a benefit for a spouse.

When you contact us, we will send you a statement describing the cost of the election and ask you to confirm your election.

If you are electing to provide a survivor annuity for an ex-spouse and you remarried, your current spouse must consent to the election.

While all military service may potentially be used in the computation of civil service survivor annuity benefits, military service performed after December 31, 1956, is subject to social security (FICA) taxes and is primarily creditable for social security benefits. However, military service performed after December 31, 1956, can be used for the computation of both the social security and civil service annuity benefit if you pay a deposit before retirement.

Using military service to compute the civil service survivor annuity may also be affected by the waiver of military retired pay for civil service retirement purposes. If you are a retiree and have not waived your military retired pay, military service generally cannot be used in the computation of your benefit or that of your survivor's.

If an employee has not waived military retired pay for civil service retirement purposes, and dies while still in Federal service on or after April 25, 1987, military service must be used to compute the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) survivor annuity if the military deposit has been paid. However, survivors may elect to exclude such service based on certain factors. Refer to our section on death benefits for additional information.

Under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) Offset program, a survivor annuity for your spouse is computed in the same manner as a survivor annuity would be computed based on full CSRS coverage. However, under CSRS-Offset, your spouse's annuity may be reduced if he or she is eligible for social security benefits based on your federal service. If he or she is not eligible for social security benefits, the civil service annuity is not reduced. See additional information about death benefits.

Monthly payments to a surviving spouse generally continue for life unless your spouse remarries before age 55. If your spouse was married to you for at least 30 years, he or she can continue receiving benefits when there is a remarriage before age 55 occurring after January 1, 1995.

You do not have to do anything. Benefits to eligible children are automatically provided by law.

To be eligible, a child must be unmarried, under age 18, and dependent on you. To continue to be eligible for benefits after age 18, a child must be unmarried and a full-time student or incapable of self-support due to a disability which onset before age 18.

Nothing.

Yes, if your child is either a full-time student, or has a disabling condition that began before age 18.

At age 18. But, they can continue until age 22 if your child is a full-time student. Children with a disabling condition that began before age 18 can continue to receive benefits as long as the condition continues and the child does not become capable of self-support. Benefits to any child end upon the child's marriage.

The survivor benefit you elected at retirement is no longer payable. A monthly survivor benefit would be payable to your former spouse after death if one is provided by court order or your new election.

The following conditions must exist for your former spouse to receive a benefit:

• You were married to your former spouse for at least nine months;
• You performed at least 18 months of creditable civilian service;
• Your former spouse to whom you were married less than 30 years has not remarried before age 55.

Your annuity may be reduced if your former spouse was awarded a survivor annuity by a qualifying court order.

If you retired on or after May 7, 1985, we will honor the terms of a court order that requires you to provide a survivor annuity for an eligible former spouse for a marriage dissolved on or after May 7, 1985. If you are divorced after retirement from a spouse to whom you were married at retirement, we will honor the court order to the extent that your annuity was reduced at retirement. If you did not elect a survivor annuity for that person at retirement, your annuity will not be reduced.

If you retired before May 7, 1985, we will honor the terms of a qualifying court order that requires you to provide a survivor annuity for an eligible former spouse in connection with a marriage that was dissolved on or after May 7, 1985, but only if you were married to that person at retirement and elected to provide a survivor annuity at that time or your were married to that person at retirement and elected to provide a survivor annuity before May 7, 1985.

Yes, the provisions of the law, along with the retirement and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program regulation are in A Handbook for Attorneys on Court-Ordered Retirement, Health Benefits, and Life Insurance Under the Civil Service Retirement System, Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, and Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI), RI 38-116. [446 KB]

You can also order it from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, P.O.Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954. The order processing code is 7612 and the document number is S/N 006-000-01408-9. You can order by telephone at (202) 512-1800.

The regulations covering both the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) benefits are in part 838 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations. The regulations contain extensive model language that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) encourages attorneys to use in preparing court orders.

Under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), the maximum benefit payable after your death to survivors other than children is 55 percent of your annual benefit. Under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), the maximum is 50 percent. So, the benefit payable to your husband or wife would equal the difference between the court-ordered benefit for your ex-spouse and the maximum benefit payable. For example, if the court awarded your former spouse a benefit equal to 35 percent of your Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) annuity, your husband or wife could only receive a benefit equal to 20 percent.

If your former spouse was awarded the maximum survivor benefit, you can elect a survivor benefit for your spouse on a contingency basis. In this case, your spouse would be paid the survivor benefit upon your death if your former spouse becomes ineligible for the survivor benefit.

If you do not provide a survivor benefit for your husband or wife, he or she will not receive a monthly benefit payment after your death. Your spouse would not be able to continue coverage under the Federal Employees' Health Benefits (FEHB) program.

If a court-ordered benefit for a former spouse will prevent a spouse from receiving a benefit that is sufficient to meet anticipated needs, you may want to provide an insurable interest benefit for your spouse.

In order to elect the insurable interest benefit, both you and your spouse must jointly waive the benefit which could be elected as spouse. Your annuity will be reduced to provide the court-ordered benefit and the insurable interest's benefit.

If the ex-spouse loses entitlement to the court-ordered benefit, you can request that the insurable interest benefit be changed to a fully reduced annuity to provide a benefit for the spouse within two years after the ex-spouse loses entitlement.

A court order related to your divorce or legal separation agreement can:

• Divide your annuity;
• Divide a refund of your retirement contributions made when you leave federal service before retirement;
• Permit your ex-spouse to continue health insurance coverage;
• Require you to assign your life insurance;
• Garnish your annuity to pay alimony, child support, in cases involving child abuse, or for Chapter 13 bankruptcy;
• Award life insurance; or
• Award a survivor benefit.

A court order following annulment of marriage, legal separation, or divorce can divide or apportion your annuity. The order must expressly direct OPM to pay a portion of your monthly benefit. The spouse's share must be stated as a fixed amount, a percentage or fraction of your annuity, or by a formula with a readily apparent value. The amount cannot exceed the money payable to you after deductions for taxes and insurance.

A court order may provide for payment of all or part of a refund of your retirement contributions. It may also block the refund payment, but only if the order directs us not to pay the refund and grants a survivor annuity or a portion of your annuity to a legally separated current spouse or former spouse.

A court order dividing your retirement benefits can be modified by either party at any time. However, survivor annuity benefits cannot be approved based on modifications to a court order made after your retirement or death.

You should call us at (202) 606-0222. If we do not have a court order for child support, alimony, or bankruptcy, you can send a facsimile to us at (202) 606-7958 when a garnishment is involved. We need a certified copy of the court order and other supporting documents when an apportionment or survivor annuity is involved.

Survivor benefit elections for current and/or former spouses can be made only at retirement, or based on a qualifying event after retirement. The applications for retirement provide detailed information and instructions about these elections. If the marriage terminates after retirement, you must contact us and tell us that they want to elect to provide a survivor benefit for a former spouse. We will send the necessary explanation and forms to elect the benefit if you are eligible to make the election.

A divorce, legal separation, or annulment court order may require that an employee or a retiree provide a survivor annuity for a former spouse. We will pay based on the court order after a death-in-service or after the death of an annuitant. If the benefit will be based on a court order, employees and retirees [or their former spouses] need to send us a court-certified copy of the court order. Send this to:

U. S. Office of Personnel Management
Retirement Services Program
Court-Order Benefits Branch
Post Office Box 17
Washington, DC 20044-0017

If you are still working for the Federal Government, you should also provide a copy of the court order to your personnel or human resources office. All court orders involving garnishments or allotments of your payments from us must be sent to the address given above.

Monthly survivor payments to your ex-spouse will continue for life generally, unless he or she remarries before age 55. But, if he or she was married to you for at least 30 years, benefits can continue even if there is a remarriage before age 55.

An apportionment of a monthly retirement annuity terminates at your death.

Your family enrollment covers yourself, your current husband or wife, and your eligible unmarried children under age 22.

Yes, but not under your family enrollment. There are two possible options for your former spouse to remain enrolled. First, all former spouses are eligible for a Temporary Continuation of Coverage enrollment that lasts for 36 months. Second, former spouses eligible for a monthly court-ordered benefit (either a portion of your monthly benefit, or a survivor benefit upon your death) are eligible for former spouse Federal health insurance. You may wish to review the health benefits information in the Attorney's Handbook or view additional information about Health Insurance.

Yes. There are several way to provide for payment of life insurance benefits to your former spouse, as follows:

• You may designate your former spouse as the beneficiary of your life insurance; or
• You may assign some or all of your life insurance to your former spouse. You cannot change or cancel an assignment.
• The court can name a former spouse as a life insurance beneficiary in a court order or property settlement incident to a court decree of divorce, annulment, or legal separation. A certified copy of the decree must be received by the employing agency for active employees or by OPM for separated employees or annuitants on or after July 22, 1998, and before the date of the insured’s death. Under the law, a court order on file prior to this effective date is not valid for the purpose of making a life insurance payment under the FEGLI Program. Therefore, if the court order was filed before July 22, 1998, with the employing agency or OPM, another certified copy must be submitted before the death of the insured. The court order must be on file on or after this date for the proceeds to go to the former spouse. The court ordered benefits payment takes precedence over any other designated beneficiary or person who would be eligible for benefits under established order of precedence except for an assignment [see below]. Refer to information about the order of precedence.
• A court order can also direct an individual to assign his or her coverage to a named person. However, assignment does not occur until and unless the individual completes and submits the "Assignment of Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance," Form Number RI 76-10. [289 KB]

Any assignment completed by the insured (whether in defiance of, compliance with, or absence of a court order to assign) takes precedence over a court order serving as a designation or the insured's designation via theStandard Form (SF) 2823, "Designation of Beneficiary, Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance Program". [119 KB]   Refer to additional information about the order of precedence or the Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Program.

You can find this information on our Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) web pages.

When you die, the Office of Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (OFEGLI) will pay life insurance benefits in a particular order, set by law:

• If you assigned ownership of your life insurance, OFEGLI will pay benefits in the following order of precedence:

  • First to the designated beneficiary(ies) designated by your assignee(s), if any;
  • Second, if there is no such beneficiary, to your assignee(s).
• If you did not assign ownership and there is a valid court order on file, OFEGLI will pay benefits in accordance with that court order;
• If you did not assign ownership and there is no valid court order on file, OFEGLI will pay benefits in the following order of precedence:
  • First, to the beneficiary you designated;
  • Second, if there is no such beneficiary, to your widow or widower;
  • Third, if none of the above, to your child or children, with the share of any deceased child distributed among the descendants of that child (a court will usually have to appoint a guardian to receive payment for a minor child);
  • Fourth, if none of the above, to your parents in equal shares or the entire amount to your surviving parent;
  • Fifth, if none of the above, to the executor or administrator of your estate; or
  • Sixth, if none of the above, to your other next of kin as determined under the laws of the State where you lived.

You can download the Standard Form (SF) 2823 [119 KB], Designation of Beneficiary, and instructions, or contact us and ask that they be sent to you.

You need to keep your designated beneficiaries' addresses current. Failure to do so may mean that your beneficiary cannot be located and therefore benefits will not be paid to that person. The preferred way is to file a new Designation of Beneficiary when a beneficiary's address changes. A new address cannot be added directly to the Designation of Beneficiary form itself, since any cross outs, erasures, or alterations in your form may make it invalid.