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, writes benefits expert Reg Jones. But there are various scenarios and under some a survivor annuity is paid automatically but under others it isn’t, he writes. You’ll find his column at https://www.fedweek.com/item-view.php?tbl=1&ID=585