5 U.S.C. § 8442 — Rights of a widow or widower

(a) Basic surviving-spouse annuity after retirement. If a retired annuitant^* dies leaving a widow^* or widower^*, that widow or widower is normally entitled to an annuity equal to 50 percent of the annuitant's own annuity under section 8415 (or half of that, if the annuitant chose the smaller survivor^* benefit under section 8419). Exceptions: this doesn't apply if the right to the annuity was waived under section 8416(a) and never restored under section 8416(d), or, for a marriage that happened after retirement, if the annuitant never filed the required election under section 8416(b) or (c). A spouse acquired after retirement only gets this annuity if they choose it instead of any other survivor benefit they might be entitled to under this subchapter, section 8424, or another government^* retirement system^*.

(b) Survivor benefit if an employee^* or Member^* dies while still working. If an employee or Member dies after at least 18 months of creditable civilian service^*, and is survived by a widow or widower, that widow or widower gets: a lump-sum-style amount equal to 50 percent of the deceased person's final yearly basic pay^* rate (or their average pay^*, if higher) plus $15,000 (adjusted under section 8462(e)); and, if the deceased person had at least 10 years of service, an ongoing annuity equal to 50 percent of an annuity figured under section 8415 (without the reduction described in subsection (f) of that section). The widow or widower can choose to receive the first amount as a lump sum, or spread over 3 years in monthly payments, or over another period set by regulation — any monthly option must be worth the same, in present value, as the lump sum. This first amount does not count as part of an "annuity" for the rest of this chapter.

(c) Survivor benefit if a former employee or Member dies before claiming a deferred annuity. If someone who left federal service with a right to a future ("deferred") annuity under section 8413 dies before actually claiming it, and is survived by a widow or widower they were married to on the date they left service, that widow or widower can choose either an annuity as described below, or the lump-sum credit^* (if they're the person entitled to it and they apply for it). The annuity equals 50 percent of what would be computed under section 8415 for the deceased person — calculated as if the person had reached the applicable minimum retirement age under section 8412(h), if they actually died before reaching it. This annuity normally starts the day after the date the deceased person would have turned 62 (or, if they'd completed 20 years of service, the day after they would have turned 60; or, if they'd completed 30 years, the day after reaching the minimum retirement age) — unless the widow or widower instead chooses to have it start the day after the person's death, in which case the amount is reduced to be worth the same, in present value, as waiting for the later start date. All of this only applies if the deceased person had completed at least 10 years of service; for someone with less than 10 years, the regular lump-sum-credit rules still apply.

(d) When the annuity starts and ends. A widow's or widower's annuity under this section starts the day after the person they were married to died. It ends on the last day of the month before the widow or widower dies, or remarries before turning 55. If it ends because of a remarriage before 55, it can be restored at the same rate if that later marriage ends by death, divorce, or annulment — as long as the widow or widower chooses this annuity over any other survivor benefit they might now be entitled to because of the remarriage, and returns any lump sum they were paid when the annuity stopped. The remarriage rule doesn't apply at all if the widow or widower was married to the deceased person for at least 30 years.

(e) Shortened marriage rule for accidental death or remarriage to the same person. Normally a widow or widower must have been married at least 9 months before the death to qualify (see section 8441). But this requirement is treated as met even with a shorter marriage if the death was accidental, or if the surviving spouse had been married to, then divorced from, that same person before — as long as the total time married adds up to at least 9 months.

(f) Extra Social-Security-linked supplement. A survivor entitled to the annuity in subsection (a) is also entitled to a supplementary annuity. This supplement equals the smaller of: the amount by which the survivor's "assumed CSRS annuity" (defined below) is more than the annuity they get under subsection (a); or an amount based on Social Security. That Social Security-based amount is generally what the survivor would receive as a widow's or widower's Social Security benefit, based on the deceased annuitant's earnings, calculated as of the date of death and as if the survivor had already turned 60 and applied. This supplement stops being paid once the survivor reaches the minimum age for regular Social Security survivor benefits, and it isn't paid to someone who wouldn't actually qualify for those Social Security benefits, or to someone who is already getting Social Security mother's/father's benefits or disability-based survivor benefits for the same month. "Assumed CSRS annuity" means the amount the survivor would get under the older CSRS retirement system, based on the deceased person's service, calculated as if the survivor had applied the day after the death and as if that service counted under CSRS. Any amount paid under this subsection gets the same cost-of-living adjustments under section 8462 as the regular annuity in subsection (a), and is otherwise treated the same way.

(g) Special rule for widows/widowers of disability annuitants. If the widow or widower of someone who was receiving a disability annuity under section 8452 is found entitled to a survivor annuity under subsection (a), that annuity equals 50 percent (or 25 percent if the smaller option was chosen under section 8419) of a specially calculated amount, instead of the amount used in subsection (a). Normally, that amount is what the disability annuitant's own annuity was, as last calculated under section 8452, right before their death. But if the disability annuitant died before turning 62, the amount is instead recalculated as though the annuitant had turned 62 the day before they died — using, for that recalculation, actual creditable service plus the extra time between the death and what would have been their 62nd birthday, with average pay updated only through the actual date of death.

(h) Overall limits.
(1) A widow's or widower's annuity under this section can never be more than the difference between what it would otherwise be, and any amount already going to a former spouse^* based on an election under section 8417(b) or a court^* order or agreement described in section 8445(a).
(2) The lump-sum-style amount under subsection (b)(1)(A) can never be more than the difference between what it would otherwise be, and the portion already going to a former spouse under a court order or agreement.
(3) A lump-sum credit paid under subsection (c)(2) follows the same terms as a lump-sum credit under section 8424(b).