CSRS: Survivor Benefits Elections After Retirement
Name a new survivor or change
the election you made at retirement
Under certain conditions, you
can name a new survivor or change the election you made at retirement if you
file a new election by writing OPM no later than 30 days after the date of your
first regular monthly payment.
Provide or increase a survivor
benefit for the spouse you were married to at retirement
If you were married at retirement and either did not
provide or elected less than the full survivor annuity for your spouse, you may,
within 18 months after retirement, elect an annuity reduction to provide or
increase the survivor benefit if you are still married to the same person. By
law, you also must pay a deposit equal to the amount by which your annuity would
have been reduced had the election been made at retirement plus an amount equal
to 24.5 percent of the increase in the base designated for the survivor annuity.
Interest is charged on the deposit.
Provide a survivor annuity benefit for a spouse
you marry after retirement
If your annuity began on or after May 7, 1985, or if you
marry on or after February 27, 1986 (regardless of the date on which your
annuity began), you may elect to provide a survivor annuity for a spouse you
marry after retirement as described below. If you make this election, your
monthly annuity will be reduced. The Office of Personnel Management
(OPM) will send you detailed information about your reduced annuity when
you notify them you want to make this election.
If you were unmarried at retirement and married
afterward, you must notify OPM in writing within two years after the
marriage if you want to provide a survivor annuity benefit. The reduction in
your annuity begins no earlier than the first of the month beginning 9 months
after the marriage date.
If you were married at retirement, experience the end of
the marriage (through death, divorce, or annulment), and marry again, you must
notify OPM in writing within two years after the marriage if you want to elect a
reduction in your annuity to provide a survivor annuity for your new spouse. The
reduction in your annuity begins no earlier than 9 months after the marriage
date.
Source: OPM RI 20-59
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Overview - CSRS
