---
kind: "section"
citation: "20 C.F.R. § 216.54"
title: "20"
number: "216.54"
heading: "Who is an employee's wife or husband."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/20/216.54"
---

# §216.54. Who is an employee's wife or husband.


An employee's wife or husband is an individual who—

- (a) Is married to the employee; and
- (b) Has been married to the employee for at least one year immediately before the date the spouse applied for annuity;
- (c) Is the natural parent of the employee's child;
- (d) Was entitled to an annuity as a widow(er), a parent, or a disabled child under this part in the month before he or she married the employee; or
- (e) Could have been entitled to a benefit listed in [paragraph (d)](#d) of this section, if the spouse had applied and been old enough in the month before he or she married the employee.

## Notes

### Authority

Authority: 45 U.S.C. 231f.

### Source

Source: 56 FR 28692, June 24, 1991, unless otherwise noted.