Disability benefits for spouse if cause of death unrelated?

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I am getting permanent disability from OWCP. I had to draw out my retirement money in 1983. I was told I could have padded within a 5 year period but was unaware of this until it was too late. I have been hearing a lot about disability retirement benefits versus OWCP disability – in either case would my spouse qualify for certain benefits if I were to die of causes unrelated to my “official” work disability?

 

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Posted by (Questions: 1, Answers: 0)
Asked on May 15, 2017 11:22 pm
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There are some unknowns in your question which makes it difficult to provide a complete answer. For example, what do you mean “I had to draw out my money in 1983″ and ” I was told I could have padded within a 5-year period but was unaware of this until it was too late.” Based the information I can glean from your question, here is what I can answer. When someone has an approved work related accident/injury they receive payments from the Office of Workers’ Compensation Program or OWCP. OWCP is not a retirement system and if you should die of reasons not related to your approved injury/illness, no survivor benefits would be payable to any eligible survivors. In order for a survivor benefit to be payable from your federal employment, you should have filed for disability retirement at the time OWCP was approved, and although you cannot collect both, you would have elected between OWCP and OPM retirement and more than likely would have had your OPM retirement put in suspend status and collect benefits from OWCP. The reason to do both is to not only protect you in the event you ever recovered from the approved injury/illness but to also protect any eligible survivors in the event you died of some reason other than the approved injury/illness. Since you have taken a refund of your retirement contributions, there is no benefit payable from the retirement fund to your survivors. At this point, the only way you could assure your survivors a benefit is if you return to federal service and depending on when you took the refund, redeposit the money, with interest, into the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund and work long enough to become eligible for title to a new annuity.

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Posted by (Questions: 0, Answers: 380)
Answered on May 16, 2017 2:58 pm