What Happens to Your Federal Employee Benefits When You Die?

If you were married when you die and had at least 18 months of creditable civilian service, your spouse will be entitled to a survivor annuity. That annuity will be based on a percentage of the annuity you were entitled to (or receiving) when you died. For CSRS, that’s 55 percent; for FERS, it’s 50 percent.

However, if you are a retiree whose spouse agreed to a lesser annuity amount (or none at all), that decision would control what happens. The same is true for any employee or retiree when a court order has determined that all or a portion of that annuity must be paid to a former spouse.

An eligible surviving spouse of a FERS employee is also entitled to a basic death benefit, plus 50 percent of the employee’s final salary (or high-3, if that’s greater). In 2018, that death benefit is about $33,000.

For more information on CSRS retirement benefits, visit https://www.opm.gov/retirement-center/csrs-information/.

For more information on FERS retirement benefits, visit https://www.opm.gov/retirement-center/fers-information/.