---
kind: "section"
citation: "5 U.S.C. § 8466"
title: "5"
title_heading: "Government Organization and Employees"
number: "8466"
heading: "Application for benefits"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/5/8466"
units:
  - "Part III — Employees"
  - "Subpart G — Insurance and Annuities"
  - "Chapter 84 — Federal Employees’ Retirement System"
  - "Subchapter VI — General and Administrative Provisions"
---

# §8466. Application for benefits

- (a) No payment of benefits based on the [service](/usc/5/8401.md?p=26) of an [employee](/usc/5/4701.md?p=a-2) or [Member](/usc/5/8401.md?p=20) shall be made from the [Fund](/usc/5/8401.md?p=6) unless an application for payment of the benefits is received by the [Office](/usc/5/5402.md?p=3) before the one hundred and fifteenth anniversary of the birth of the [employee](/usc/5/4701.md?p=a-2) or [Member](/usc/5/8401.md?p=20).
- (b) Notwithstanding [subsection (a)](#a), after the death of an [employee](/usc/5/4701.md?p=a-2), [Member](/usc/5/8401.md?p=20), or [annuitant](/usc/5/8401.md?p=2), or former [employee](/usc/5/4701.md?p=a-2) or [Member](/usc/5/8401.md?p=20), a benefit based on the [service](/usc/5/8401.md?p=26) of such [employee](/usc/5/4701.md?p=a-2), [Member](/usc/5/8401.md?p=20), or [annuitant](/usc/5/8401.md?p=2), or former [employee](/usc/5/4701.md?p=a-2) or [Member](/usc/5/8401.md?p=20), shall not be paid under subchapter II or IV of this chapter unless an application therefor is received by the [Office](/usc/5/5402.md?p=3) within 30 years after the death or other event which establishes the entitlement to the benefit.
- (c)
  - (1) Payment due a minor, or an individual mentally incompetent or under other legal disability, may be made to the [person](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-1) (including an organization) who is constituted guardian or other fiduciary by the law of the [State](/usc/5/8521.md?p=a-3) of residence of the claimant or is otherwise legally vested with the care of the claimant or his estate. If a guardian or other fiduciary of the individual under legal disability has not been appointed under the law of the [State](/usc/5/8521.md?p=a-3) of residence of the claimant, payment may be made to any [person](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-1) (including an organization) who, in the judgment of the [Office](/usc/5/5402.md?p=3), is responsible for the care of the claimant and may appropriately receive such payments on behalf of the claimant, and the payment bars recovery by any other [person](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-1).
  - (2) If the [Office](/usc/5/5402.md?p=3) determines that direct payment of a benefit to an individual mentally incompetent or under other legal disability would cause substantial harm to the individual, the [Office](/usc/5/5402.md?p=3) may defer or suspend direct payment of the benefit until such time as the appointment of a [representative payee](/usc/5/8401.md?p=39) is made. The [Office](/usc/5/5402.md?p=3) shall resume payment as soon as practicable, including all amounts due.
- (d) The [Office](/usc/5/5402.md?p=3) may not authorize a [person](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-1) to receive payments on behalf of a minor or individual of legal disability under [subsection (c)](#c) if that [person](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-1) has been convicted of a violation of—
  - (1) section [8345a](/usc/5/8345a.md) or [8466a](/usc/5/8466a.md);
  - (2) section 208 or 1632 of the Social Security Act ([42 U.S.C. 408](/usc/42/408.md), 1383a); or
  - (3) [section 6101 of title 38](/usc/38/6101.md).

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 99–335, title I, § 101(a), June 6, 1986, 100 Stat. 575; amended Pub. L. 116–126, § 2(c)(2), (d)(2), Mar. 18, 2020, 134 Stat. 176.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2020—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 116–126, § 2(c)(2), designated existing provisions as par. (1), inserted “(including an organization)” after “to the person” and after “to any person”, inserted “and may appropriately receive such payments on behalf of the claimant” after “care of the claimant”, and added par. (2).

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 116–126, § 2(d)(2), added subsec. (d).

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2020 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 116–126 effective on Mar. 18, 2020, and applicable on and after the effective date of regulations promulgated under section 3(b)(1) of Pub. L. 116–126, see sections 4 and 3(b) of Pub. L. 116–126, set out respectively as an Effective Date of 2020 Amendment note and a Regulations note under section 8331 of this title.

### Regulations

Regulations to carry out amendment by Pub. L. 116–126 to be promulgated by Office of Personnel Management no later than 1 year after Mar. 18, 2020, with allowance for additional regulations relating to administration of representative payee program, see section 3(b) of Pub. L. 116–126, set out as a note under section 8331 of this title.