Spousal Survivor Benefits Upon the Death of a Former Federal Employee

Under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), when an employee separates form federal service and dies before electing a refund of his or her lump-sum credit in the CSRS Retirement and Disability Fund, or before fulfilling all the requirements to receive a deferred annuity at age 62 (including filing an application for a deferred CSRS annuity), no survivor annuity is payable to the surviving spouse.

Upon the death of a former employee under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) who did not meet the requirements for entitlement to retirement benefits before death (including having filed an application for retirement) the former employee’s lump-sum credit or a survivor annuity may be payable to a surviving spouse.

This column presents the eligibility requirements for a spousal survivor annuity resulting from the death of a former FERS-covered employee. Included in the column are the computation of the survivor annuity and the procedures that a surviving spouse must follow to apply for a spousal survivor annuity. Note that a FERS employee who was eligible for an “MRA +10” or an “MRA + 20” retirement FERS annuity benefit and who applied for the benefit but postponed receipt of his or her FERS annuity in order to avoid a reduction of the FERS annuity, is considered to be an annuitant at the time of death.

SEE ALSO: Spousal Survivor Benefits Upon the Death of a FERS Annuitant

When is a Widow/Widower Considered to Be a Surviving Spouse?

A widow or widower is considered a surviving spouse if he or she meets one of the following:

• The surviving spouse and the former employee were married for at least nine months before the death of the former employee

• A child was born from the marriage. For this purpose, a child includes:
– a child born posthumously to the deceased former employee and spouse, and
– a child born to the deceased former employee and spouse before they were married, and
– a child of a prior marriage between the deceased former employee and spouse; or

• The death of the former spouse was accidental

If the eligibility requirements discussed below are met, a surviving spouse may elect to receive either: (1) A monthly FERS survivor annuity; or (2) The unexpended balance lump-sum credit (assuming the current spouse is the individual who would be entitled to the unexpended balance)

Eligibility Requirements for a FERS Spousal Survivor Annuity

If the following requirements are met, the surviving spouse is entitled to a FERS survivor annuity:

• If the surviving spouse meets the definition of a spouse

• If the surviving spouse was married to the deceased former employee on the date of his or her separation from federal service, and

• The deceased former employee had:
– at least five years of civilian service covered by deductions or deposits for non-deduction (temporary service), and
– a total of at least 10 years of creditable service.

The 10-year service requirement includes:

• Civilian and military service for which deductions and deposits are in the former employee’s retirement account

• Civilian non-deduction (temporary) service for which the surviving makes a deposit, and

• Military service performed before 1957 which does not require a deposit

Note that the surviving spouse of a deceased former employee may not make a deposit for military service.

Any FERS survivor annuity payable to a surviving spouse will be payable to a former spouse instead, if required by a qualifying court order. This means that if a court awards the total survivor annuity to a former spouse, then the surviving current spouse will receive nothing. If a former spouse was awarded only a part of the total survivor annuity, then the surviving spouse will receive the remaining part of the survivor annuity. In either case, if the former spouse later loses entitlement because of death or remarriage before age 55, then the surviving spouse will begin to receive the full survivor annuity.

Duration of FERS Survivor Annuity

The surviving spouse may choose to have the survivor annuity begin on:

• The day the deceased former employee would have been eligible for an unreduced annuity. That is, the decedent’s 62nd birthday if the deceased former employee had less than 20 years of creditable service; the decedent’s 60th birthday if the deceased former employee had 20 to 30 years of creditable service; the decedent’s birthday when he or she would have reached Minimum Retirement Age (MRA) if the deceased employee had 30 or more years of creditable service, or

• The day after the date of death of the former employee.

A FERS survivor annuity to a widow/widower ends on the last day of the month preceding the month in which he or she dies of remarries before age 55. Note that if the widow/widower remarries before age 55 and was married at least 30 years to the deceased employee on whose service the survivor annuity is based, then the survivor annuity will not be terminated.

Restoration of FERS Survivor Annuity

A survivor annuity that ended because of remarriage before age 55 may be restored if the:

• Remarriage of the widow/widower ends by death, divorce or annulment

• The widow/widower elects to receive this annuity instead of another survivor benefit he or she may be entitled to under FERS or another retirement system for government employees due to the remarriage, and

• The widow/widower pays back any lump-sum benefit paid when the annuity ended

Note the exception is a when an annuity paid to a former spouse that ended because of remarriage cannot be reinstated.

Computation of FERS Survivor Annuity

The spousal survivor is equal to 50 percent of the deceased former employee’s FERS basic annuity but only if the surviving spouse elects to begin receiving the survivor annuity on the date the deceased former spouse would have met the age and service requirements for an unreduced FERS annuity. The amount of the survivor annuity is reduced if the surviving spouse elects to receive the annuity beginning the day after the death of the former employee.

The following are the steps used to compute an unreduced survivor annuity:

Step 1. Compute the deceased former employee’s annual basic annuity (unreduced for survivor benefits) as if he or she had become entitled to receive an unreduced deferred annuity.

Step 2. Multiply the former employee’s annuity by 50 percent to obtain the unreduced annual survivor annuity benefit.

Step 3. Divide the unreduced annual survivor benefit by 12 and round to the next lower dollar to obtain the unreduced monthly survivor annuity benefit payable to the surviving spouse when the former employee would have reached the age for deferred retirement benefits.

Computation of Reduced FERS Survivor Annuity

If the surviving spouse elects to have the survivor annuity begin on the day after the former employee’s death, then the survivor annuity is actuarially reduced as follows:

Step 1. Compute the deceased former employee’s annual FERS annuity (unreduced for survivor benefits) as if he or she had become entitled to receive an unreduced deferred annuity.

Step 2. Multiply the former employee’s FERS annuity by 50 percent to obtain the unreduced annual survivor benefit.

Step 3. Multiply the appropriate Present Value Conversion Factor (see Charts A, B and C at the bottom of this  article for most current present value conversion factors) to reduce the unreduced annual survivor benefit.)

Step 4. Divide the reduced survivor benefit by 12 and round to the next lower dollar to obtain the monthly reduced survivor benefit.

The following worksheet can be used to compute the unreduced survivor annuit of the surviving spouse of a deceased former FERS employee.

The following two examples will illustrate the computation of spousal FERS survivor annuity upon the death of a former FERS employee:

Example 1. FERS former employee died at age 60 with 16 years of creditable federal service:

Jason, born April 4, 1960, separated from federal service in 2012 while covered under FERS at age 52 with 16 years of federal service. He died in 2020 at age 60 with a high-three average salary of $120,000. His annual FERS annuity before reduction for a survivor annuity would have been 16 years times 1 percent/year times $120,000, or $19,200. His surviving spouse, Francine, may elect to receive:

• A lump-sum payment of Jason’s lump-sum credit in the FERS Retirement and Disability Fund; or

• An unreduced survivor annuity beginning on the date Jason would have reached age 62, or

• A reduced survivor annuity the day after Jason died.

The unreduced survivor annuity beginning on the day Jason would have reached age 62:

A. Using the FERS Deceased Former Employee Survivor Annuity Worksheet (A) shown below, the unreduced survivor annuity is computed (see below).

1. Enter the former employee’s annual FERS annuity before reduction for survivor annuity ($19,200).

2. Multiply the amount in (1) by 50 percent to obtain the unreduced annual survivor annuity ($9,600).

3. Divide the unreduced annual survivor annuity by 12 and round to the next lower dollar to obtain the unreduced monthly survivor annuity ($800).

B. The reduced survivor annuity is calculated as follows, using the B worksheet (see below).

1. Enter the unreduced annual survivor annuity from line A3 of the worksheet ($9,600).

2. Enter the Present Value Conversion Factor using the Present Value Conversion Factor. Employee died at 52 with at least 10 years but fewer than 20 years of creditable service. See Chart A (0.5055).

3. Multiply line B1 by line B2 ($9,600 times 0.5055) equals $4,853. This is the annual survivor annuity reduced for early commencing date.

4. Divide line B3, the reduced annual survivor annuity ($4,853) by 12 and round to the next lower dollar to obtain the reduced monthly survivor annuity ($404).

Example 2. FERS former employee died at age 53 with 30 years of creditable federal service.

Doris, born February 15, 1970, separated from federal service in 2017 while covered under FERS at age 47 with 30 years of creditable federal service. She died in 2021 at age 51 with a high-three average salary of $80,000. Her FERS annuity before reduction for a spousal survivor annuity would have been 30 years times 1 percent/year times $80,000 or $24,000. Her surviving spouse Ken may elect to receive:

• A lump sum payment of Doris’ lump-sum credit in the FERS retirement fund, or

• An unreduced survivor annuity beginning on the date that Doris would have reached 56 years old, her minimum retirement age; or

• A reduced survivor annuity beginning on the day after death.

The unreduced survivor annuity is calculated as follows:

A. Using the FERS Deceased Former Employee Survivor Annuity Worksheet (A) shown below, the unreduced survivor annuity is computed (see below).

1. Enter the former employee’s annual FERS annuity before reduction for survivor annuity ($24,000).

2. Multiply the amount by 50 percent to obtain the unreduced annual survivor annuity ($12,000).

3. Divide the unreduced annual survivor annuity by 12 to obtain the unreduced monthly survivor annuity ($1,000).

B. The reduced survivor annuity is calculated as follows, using the B worksheet (see below).

1. Enter the unreduced annual survivor annuity from A3 of the worksheet ($12,000).

2. Enter the Present Value Conversion Factor using the Present Value Conversion Factor. Employee died at 51 with 30 years of creditable service. See Chart C (0.6733).

3. Multiply line B1 by line B2, ($12,000 times 0.6733) equals $8,080. This is the annual survivor amount reduced for early commencing date.

4. Divide line B3, the reduced annual survivor annuity amount ($8,080) by 12 and round to the next lower dollar amount to obtain the reduced monthly survivor annuity ($673).

Cost-of-Living Adjustment

Cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) are made only if the survivor annuity is being paid. Therefore, although a survivor annuity commencing at the earlier date (the day after the former employee died) is at a reduced rate (as a result of applying the Present Value Conversion Factor), the reduced FERS spousal survivor annuity will increase immediately with COLAs. However, there are no COLAs applied to the survivor annuity commencing at the later date (the January 1 after the year former employee was eligible to retire with an unreduced FERS annuity) until after it actually commences.

Surviving Spouse Responsibility

Surviving spouses should be advised to report the death to OPM’s retirement office of their spouse’s death. To do so, they should go online to OPM Retirement Information and Services here. Upon going on that site, the surviving spouse will see:

Once on the reporting page, the surviving spouse will need to provide information about the deceased former employee. Once the completed report is submitted online to OPM, OPM’s retirement office will send a confirmation email that they received the surviving spouse’s report of the former employee’s death. This confirmation email should occur within 3 to 5 business days after OPM has received it.

A surviving spouse has 30 years from the former employee’s date of death in which to file an application for death benefits.

Reference document:  Present Value Conversion Factor (Charts A, B and C)  [PDF, 2 pages]