---
kind: "section"
citation: "5 U.S.C. § 8418"
title: "5"
title_heading: "Government Organization and Employees"
number: "8418"
heading: "Survivor elections; deposit; offsets"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/5/8418"
units:
  - "Part III — Employees"
  - "Subpart G — Insurance and Annuities"
  - "Chapter 84 — Federal Employees’ Retirement System"
  - "Subchapter II — Basic Annuity"
---

# §8418. Survivor elections; deposit; offsets

- (a)
  - (1) An individual who makes an election under subsection [(b)](/usc/5/8416.md?p=b) or [(c)](/usc/5/8416.md?p=c) of section 8416 or [section 8417(b)](/usc/5/8417.md?p=b) which is required to be made within 2 years after the date of a prescribed event shall deposit into the [Fund](/usc/5/8401.md?p=6) an amount determined by the [Office](/usc/5/5402.md?p=3) (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)](/usc/5/8416.md?p=b), since the date the previous reduction in the annuity of such individual was terminated under paragraph [(1)](/usc/5/8419.md?p=b-1) or [(2)](/usc/5/8419.md?p=b-2) of section 8419(b)), plus interest.
  - (2) Interest under [paragraph (1)](#a-1) shall be computed at the rate of 6 percent a year.
- (b) The [Office](/usc/5/5402.md?p=3) shall, by regulation, provide for payment of the deposit required under [subsection (a)](#a) by a reduction in the annuity of the [employee](/usc/5/4701.md?p=a-2) or [Member](/usc/5/8401.md?p=20). 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)](#a), except that the total reductions in the annuity of an [employee](/usc/5/4701.md?p=a-2) or [Member](/usc/5/8401.md?p=20) to [pay](/usc/5/7511.md?p=a-4) deposits required by this section shall not exceed 25 percent of the annuity computed under [section 8415](/usc/5/8415.md) or [section 8452](/usc/5/8452.md), 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)](/usc/5/8416.md?p=b) and (c) or [section 8417(b)](/usc/5/8417.md?p=b), shall be permanent and unaffected by any future termination of the marriage or the entitlement of the [former spouse](/usc/5/8401.md?p=12). Such reduction shall be independent of and in addition to the reduction required under [section 8416(b)](/usc/5/8416.md?p=b) and (c) or [section 8417(b)](/usc/5/8417.md?p=b).
- (c) Subsections [(a)](#a) and [(b)](#b) shall not apply if—
  - (1) the [employee](/usc/5/4701.md?p=a-2) or [Member](/usc/5/8401.md?p=20) makes an election under [section 8416(b)](/usc/5/8416.md?p=b) or (c) after having made an election under [section 8420](/usc/5/8420.md); and
  - (2) the election under such [section 8420](/usc/5/8420.md) becomes void under subsection [(b)(3)](/usc/5/8420.md) or [(c)(2)](/usc/5/8420.md) of such section 8416.
- (d) The [Office](/usc/5/5402.md?p=3) shall prescribe regulations under which the [survivor](/usc/5/8401.md?p=28) of an [employee](/usc/5/4701.md?p=a-2) or [Member](/usc/5/8401.md?p=20) may make a deposit under this section.

## Source credit

(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.)

## Notes

### 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.