US Codex
U.S.C.
Browse by date

View an earlier version

Latest
1 year ago
Aug 28, 2025
5 years ago
Aug 28, 2021
Browse all versions by date
Notes

5 U.S.C. §§ 8416–8420

5 sections in range

§8416. Survivor reduction for a current spouse

5 U.S.C. § 8416

(a)
(1)
If an employee or Member is married at the time of retiring under this chapter, the reduction described in section 8419(a) shall be made unless the employee or Member and the spouse jointly waive, by written election, any right which the spouse may have to a survivor annuity under section 8442 based on the service of such employee or Member. A waiver under this paragraph shall be filed with the Office under procedures prescribed by the Office.
(2)
Notwithstanding paragraph (1), an employee or Member who is married at the time of retiring under this chapter may waive the annuity for a surviving spouse without the spouse’s consent if the employee or Member establishes to the satisfaction of the Office (in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Office)—
(A)
that the spouse’s whereabouts cannot be determined; or
(B)
that, due to exceptional circumstances, requiring the employee or Member to seek the spouse’s consent would otherwise be inappropriate.
(3)
Except as provided in subsection (d), a waiver made under this subsection shall be irrevocable.
(b)
(1)
Upon remarriage, a retired employee or Member who was married at the time of retirement (including an employee or Member whose annuity was not reduced to provide a survivor annuity for the employee’s or Member’s spouse or former spouse as of the time of retirement) may irrevocably elect during such marriage, in a signed writing received by the Office within 2 years after such remarriage or, if later, within 2 years after the death or remarriage of any former spouse of such employee or Member who was entitled to a survivor annuity under section 8445 (or of the last such surviving former spouse, if there was more than one), a reduction in the employee’s or Member’s annuity under section 8419(a) for the purpose of providing an annuity for such employee’s or Member’s spouse in the event such spouse survives the employee or Member.
(2)
The election and reduction shall be effective the first day of the second month after the election is received by the Office, but not less than 9 months after the date of the remarriage.
(3)
An election to provide a survivor annuity to an individual under this subsection—
(A)
shall prospectively void any election made by the employee or Member under section 8420 with respect to such individual; or
(B)
shall, if an election was made by the employee or Member under section 8420 with respect to a different individual, prospectively void such election if appropriate written application is made by such employee or Member at the time of making the election under this subsection.
(4)
Any election under this subsection made by an employee or Member on behalf of an individual after the retirement of such employee or Member shall not be effective if—
(A)
the employee or Member was married to such individual at the time of retirement; and
(B)
the annuity rights of such individual based on the service of such employee or Member were then waived under subsection (a).
(c)
(1)
An employee or Member who is unmarried at the time of retiring under this chapter and who later marries may irrevocably elect, in a signed writing received by the Office within 2 years after such employee or Member marries or, if later, within 2 years after the death or remarriage of any former spouse of such employee or Member who was entitled to a survivor annuity under section 8445 (or of the last such surviving former spouse, if there was more than one), a reduction in the current annuity of the retired employee or Member, in accordance with section 8419(a).
(2)
The election and reduction shall take effect the first day of the first month beginning 9 months after the date of marriage. Any such election to provide a survivor annuity for an individual—
(A)
shall prospectively void any election made by the employee or Member under section 8420 with respect to such individual; or
(B)
shall, if an election was made by the employee or Member under section 8420 with respect to a different individual, prospectively void such election if appropriate written application is made by such employee or Member at the time of making the election under this subsection.
(d)
(1)
An employee or Member—
(A)
who is married on the date of retiring under this chapter, and
(B)
with respect to whose spouse a waiver under subsection (a) has been made,

may, during the 18-month period beginning on such date, elect to have a reduction made under section 8419 in order to provide a survivor annuity under section 8442 for such spouse.

(2)
(A)
An election under this subsection shall not be effective unless the amount described in subparagraph (B) is deposited into the Fund before the expiration of the 18-month period referred to in paragraph (1).
(B)
The amount to be deposited under this subparagraph is equal to the sum of—
(i)
the difference (for the period between the date on which the annuity of the former employee or Member commences and the date on which reductions pursuant to the election under this subsection commence) between the amount paid to the former employee or Member from the Fund under this chapter and the amount which would have been paid if such election had been made at the time of retirement; and
(ii)
the costs associated with providing for the election under this subsection.

The amount to be deposited under clause (i) shall include interest, computed at the rate of 6 percent a year.

(3)
An annuity which is reduced pursuant to an election by a former employee or Member under this subsection shall be reduced by the same percentage as was in effect under section 8419 as of the date of the employee’s or Member’s retirement.
(4)
Rights and obligations under this chapter resulting from an election under this subsection shall be the same as the rights and obligations which would have resulted had the election been made at the time of retirement.
(5)
The Office shall inform each employee and Member who is eligible to make an election under this subsection of the right to make such election and the procedures and deadlines applicable in making any such election.
Notes, amendments, and revision history

(Added Pub. L. 99–335, title I, § 101(a), June 6, 1986, 100 Stat. 528.)

§8417. Survivor reduction for a former spouse

5 U.S.C. § 8417

(a)
If an employee or Member has a former spouse who is entitled to a survivor annuity as provided in section 8445, the reduction described in section 8419(a) shall be made.
(b)
(1)
An employee or Member who has a former spouse may elect, under procedures prescribed by the Office, a reduction in the annuity of the employee or Member under section 8419(a) in order to provide a survivor annuity for such former spouse under section 8445.
(2)
An election under this subsection shall be made at the time of retirement or, if the marriage is dissolved after the date of retirement, within 2 years after the date on which the marriage of the former spouse to the employee or Member is so dissolved.
(3)
An election under this subsection—
(A)
shall not be effective to the extent that it—
(i)
conflicts with—
(I)
any court order or decree referred to in section 8445(a) which was issued before the date of such election; or
(II)
any agreement referred to in such section 8445(a) which was entered into before such date; or
(ii)
would cause the total of survivor annuities payable under sections 8442 and 8445, respectively, based on the service of the employee or Member to exceed the amount which would be payable to a widow or widower of such employee or Member under such section 8442 (determined without regard to any reduction to provide for an annuity under such section 8445); and
(B)
shall not be effective, in the case of an employee or Member who is then married, unless it is made with the spouse’s written consent.

The Office shall by regulation provide that subparagraph (B) may be waived for either of the reasons set forth in section 8416(a)(2).

Notes, amendments, and revision history

(Added Pub. L. 99–335, title I, § 101(a), June 6, 1986, 100 Stat. 530.)

§8418. Survivor elections; deposit; offsets

5 U.S.C. § 8418

(a)
(1)
An individual who makes an election under subsection (b) or (c) of section 8416 or section 8417(b) which is required to be made within 2 years after the date of a prescribed event shall deposit into the Fund an amount determined by the Office (as nearly as may be administratively feasible) to reflect the amount by which the annuity of such individual would have been reduced if the election had been in effect since the date of retirement (or, if later, and in the case of an election under such section 8416(b), since the date the previous reduction in the annuity of such individual was terminated under paragraph (1) or (2) of section 8419(b)), plus interest.
(2)
Interest under paragraph (1) shall be computed at the rate of 6 percent a year.
(b)
The Office shall, by regulation, provide for payment of the deposit required under subsection (a) by a reduction in the annuity of the employee or Member. The reduction shall, to the extent practicable, be designed so that the present value of the future reduction is actuarially equivalent to the deposit required under subsection (a), except that the total reductions in the annuity of an employee or Member to pay deposits required by this section shall not exceed 25 percent of the annuity computed under section 8415 or section 8452, including adjustments under section 8462. The reduction required by this subsection, which shall be effective at the same time as the election under section 8416(b) and (c) or section 8417(b), shall be permanent and unaffected by any future termination of the marriage or the entitlement of the former spouse. Such reduction shall be independent of and in addition to the reduction required under section 8416(b) and (c) or section 8417(b).
(c)
Subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply if—
(1)
the employee or Member makes an election under section 8416(b) or (c) after having made an election under section 8420; and
(2)
the election under such section 8420 becomes void under subsection (b)(3) or (c)(2) of such section 8416.
(d)
The Office shall prescribe regulations under which the survivor of an employee or Member may make a deposit under this section.
Notes, amendments, and revision history

(Added Pub. L. 99–335, title I, § 101(a), June 6, 1986, 100 Stat. 530; amended Pub. L. 103–66, title XI, § 11004(b), Aug. 10, 1993, 107 Stat. 412.)

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1993—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 103–66, § 11004(b)(1), struck out “, before the expiration of the 2-year period involved,” after “into the Fund”.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 102–66, § 11004(b)(2), amended subsec. (b) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (b) read as follows: “If the electing individual does not make the deposit required under subsection (a), the Office shall collect such amount by offset against such individual’s annuity, up to a maximum of 25 percent of the net annuity otherwise payable, and the individual is deemed to consent to such offset.”

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 1993 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 103–66 effective on first day of first month beginning at least 30 days after Aug. 10, 1993, and applicable to all deposits required under section 8339(j)(3) or (5), 8339(k)(2), or 8418 of this title, on which no payment has been made prior to such effective date, with provision for partial deposit, see section 11004(c) of Pub. L. 103–66, set out as a note under section 8339 of this title.

§8419. Survivor reductions; computation

5 U.S.C. § 8419

(a)
(1)
Except as provided in paragraph (2), the annuity of an annuitant computed under section 8415, or under section 8452 (including subsection (a)(2) of such section, if applicable) or one-half of the annuity, if jointly designated for this purpose by the employee or Member and the spouse of the employee or Member under procedures prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management, shall be reduced by 10 percent if a survivor annuity, or a combination of survivor annuities, under section 8442 or 8445 (or both) are to be provided for.
(2)
(A)
If no survivor annuity under section 8442 is to be provided for, but one or more survivor annuities under section 8445 involving a total of less than the entirety of the amount referred to in subsection (b)(2) of such section are to be provided for, the annuity of the annuitant involved (as computed under section 8415, or under section 8452 (including subsection (a)(2) of such section, if applicable)) or one-half of the annuity, if jointly designated for this purpose by the employee or Member and the spouse of the employee or Member under procedures prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management, shall be reduced by an appropriate percentage determined under subparagraph (B).
(B)
The Office shall prescribe regulations under which an appropriate reduction under this paragraph, not to exceed a total of 10 percent, shall be made.
(b)
(1)
Any reduction in an annuity for the purpose of providing a survivor annuity for the current spouse of a retired employee or Member shall be terminated for each full month—
(A)
after the death of the spouse; or
(B)
after the dissolution of the spouse’s marriage to the employee or Member, except that an appropriate reduction shall be made thereafter if the spouse is entitled, as a former spouse, to a survivor annuity under section 8445.
(2)
Any reduction in an annuity for the purpose of providing a survivor annuity for a former spouse of a retired employee or Member shall be terminated for each full month after the former spouse remarries before reaching age 55 or dies. This reduction shall be replaced by appropriate reductions under subsection (a) if the retired employee or Member has one or more of the following:
(A)
another former spouse who is entitled to a survivor annuity under section 8445;
(B)
a current spouse to whom the employee or Member was married at the time of retirement and with respect to whom a survivor annuity was not waived under section 8416(a) (or, if waived, with respect to whom an election under section 8416(d) has been made); or
(C)
a current spouse whom the employee or Member married after retirement and with respect to whom an election has been made under subsection (b) or (c) of section 8416.
Notes, amendments, and revision history

(Added Pub. L. 99–335, title I, § 101(a), June 6, 1986, 100 Stat. 531; amended Pub. L. 100–238, title I, § 131(a), Jan. 8, 1988, 101 Stat. 1759.)

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1988—Subsec. (a)(1), (2)(A). Pub. L. 100–238 inserted “or one-half of the annuity, if jointly designated for this purpose by the employee or Member and the spouse of the employee or Member under procedures prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management” before “, shall be reduced”.

§8420. Insurable interest reductions

5 U.S.C. § 8420

(a)
(1)
At the time of retiring under section 8412, 8413, or 8414, an employee or Member who is found to be in good health by the Office may elect to have such employee’s or Member’s annuity (as computed under section 8415) reduced under paragraph (2) in order to provide an annuity under section 8444 for an individual having an insurable interest in the employee or Member. Such individual shall be designated by the employee or Member in writing.
(2)
The annuity of the employee or Member making the election is reduced by 10 percent, and by 5 percent for each full 5 years the individual named is younger than the retiring employee or Member, except that the total reduction may not exceed 40 percent.
(3)
An annuity which is reduced under this subsection shall, effective the first day of the month following the death of the individual named under this subsection, be recomputed and paid as if the annuity had not been so reduced.
(b)
(1)
In the case of a married employee or Member, an election under this section on behalf of the spouse may be made only if any right of such spouse to a survivor annuity based on the service of such employee or Member is waived in accordance with section 8416(a).
(2)
Paragraph (1) does not apply in the case of an employee or Member if such employee or Member has a former spouse who would become entitled to an annuity under section 8445 as a survivor of such employee or Member.
Notes, amendments, and revision history

(Added Pub. L. 99–335, title I, § 101(a), June 6, 1986, 100 Stat. 532.)