Categories: Retirement Benefits

Electing Survivor Benefits for Marriage after Retirement

You may elect to provide a survivor annuity for a spouse you marry after retirement, with a reduction in your annuity. The Office of Personnel Management will send you detailed information about your reduced annuity if you 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 nine 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 nine months after the marriage date.

 

If your current spouse was married to you when you retired and consented to a survivor annuity benefit based on less than all of your annuity, you cannot elect a survivor annuity greater than the amount provided in your original election.

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