Expert's View

It’s no fun thinking about death, especially when it’s your own. However, all married federal employees are required by law to face that fact when they fill out their retirement paperwork. On the Standard Form 2801 (CSRS), they need to complete Section E (Marital Information) and Section F (Annuity Election). On the SF 3107, it’s Sections C and D.

If you are married when you retire, the law requires that you acknowledge that fact and elect a full survivor annuity for your spouse, unless he or she agrees in a signed and notarized letter to a lesser amount or none at all. So what happens if you don’t tell the truth about your marital status or you fail to make an election and don’t respond to OPM’s attempts to obtain one from you? The answer is simple. Your annuity will be automatically reduced and your widow(er) granted a full survivor annuity.

Well, that takes care of one scenario. But what happens if you submit your paperwork to retire and die before completing an election? Or you’ve indicated that you only want to provide a partial survivor benefit but haven’t included a waiver from your spouse? Once again the law intervenes. If you die before the election is complete or a letter from your spouse confirms that a reduced survivor annuity is acceptable, no election is considered to have occurred. Your annuity would be reduced and a full survivor benefit would be provided to your widow(er).

One last scenario. If you die while still employed, a full survivor annuity will be automatically provided to your widow(er). No if ands or buts.

Note: Whether you make an election or not, the provision of a survivor annuity for your spouse may be superseded by a court-ordered former spouse survivor benefit if your annuity commences and the marriage was dissolved on or after May 7, 1985. I’ll tell you more about that next week.