Federal Benefits Question of the Week: Survivor Benefits for a New Spouse

Q. I retired a few years ago and am getting married soon. Can I add my new spouse to my insurance? How can I elect a survivor benefit?

A.: Congratulations! You can add your new spouse to health, dental, and/or vision coverage up to 31 days before or up to 60 days after the date of your marriage. You may also make changes during annual open seasons or other Qualified Life Event (QLE). For FEHB changes, use the Health Benefits Election Form, OPM form 2809: https://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/opm2809.pdf. Submit form to OPM using the address provided on the form to change your FEHB coverage or enrollment. To add your new spouse to your dental or vision supplement under FEDVIP, you must first check your eligibility and create a My BENEFEDS account. Then, select “Enroll” in dental or vision coverage from your account dashboard to answer a few questions to determine what QLE you experienced and if it allows you to enroll outside of open season. Retirees are not eligible to increase their life insurance coverage under the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) program.

You may provide a survivor benefit to a spouse that you marry after retirement within two years of the date of marriage. If you retired under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or CSRS Offset, you may elect to provide 55% of any amount up to the amount of your unreduced retirement benefit. Under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) you may elect either the maximum survivor benefits equal to 50% of your unreduced FERS benefit or a partial survivor benefit equal to 25% of your FERS benefit. If you happen to remarry the same person to whom you were married at retirement, you cannot elect a survivor annuity greater than the one you elected at retirement. For a post-retirement survivor election, there will be two reductions in your annuity: 

The normal reduction to provide the survivor benefit: 

• The reduction for FERS depends on the election of the maximum or partial survivor benefit. The reduction is either:  
  • 10% of your basic annuity for the max or 
  • 5% of your basic annuity for the partial  
• The reduction for CSRS depends on the base selected for the survivor election. The reduction to your benefit will be computed as: 
  • 2.5% of the first $3600 of your basic annuity, then 10% of the remainder up to the amount you have chosen as the base for the survivor benefit. For example, if you elect to provide a survivor benefit equal to 55% of $10,000 (which provides $5,500 / year or $458 / month to your surviving spouse), the reduction would be $730 / year or $60.80 monthly (2.5% of $3,600 + 10% of $6,400). 
  • A permanent actuarial reduction equal to the difference between the new annuity rate with the survivor benefit and the old one without the survivor benefit since your retirement, plus 6 percent interest. The actuarial reduction continues even if the marriage ends. 

When you write to OPM, include a copy of your marriage certificate, your full name, the name of your new spouse, your CSA number, and signature. OPM will send you specific information on the cost of the benefit and ask you to confirm your election. OPM, Remarriage after Retirement, Retirement Operations Center, P.O. Box 45 Boyers, PA 16017-0045. 

You may also want to update your beneficiary designations: 

Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) https://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/sf2823.pdf

Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and/or Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) https://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/sf3102.pdf 

OPM must receive the forms before your death to be valid. You can email retire@opm.gov and/or call OPM at 1-888-767-6738 to request the forms or complete them online at www.opm.gov/forms and mail them to OPM as directed on the form.  

To learn more about designating beneficiaries for your Thrift Savings Plan account, you will need to log into your My TSP account. Learn more by reading the TSP Death Benefits Booklet, Publication 31, https://www.tsp.gov/publications/tspbk31.pdf