SF 3107-2 Spouse’s Consent to Survivor Election: Filing and Notary Steps

SF 3107-2, Spouse’s Consent to Survivor Election, is the one-page waiver your current spouse signs when you retire under FERS and want anything other than the default full survivor annuity. You attach it to your SF 3107 retirement application whenever you elect a partial survivor benefit, no survivor benefit, or a survivor benefit directed to a former spouse. If you are keeping the full 50-percent survivor annuity for your current spouse, you do not need this form.

When the Form Is Required

Federal law sets a default: when you retire under FERS with a spouse, your annuity is automatically reduced to fund a full survivor annuity unless both of you waive that protection in writing.¹ The full survivor annuity pays your spouse 50 percent of your unreduced earned annuity after your death.² SF 3107-2 is that written waiver.

You need it if you initial any of the following in Section D of SF 3107:³

A partial survivor annuity, giving your spouse 25 percent of your unreduced annuity instead of 50 percent.
No survivor annuity, which also ends your spouse’s federal health benefits coverage after your death and cuts off eligibility for the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program if they are not already enrolled.
An insurable interest annuity for your current spouse in place of the regular survivor annuity.
A survivor annuity for a former spouse, which reduces or eliminates what is left for your current spouse.

What Each Election Costs You Monthly

Your own annuity is permanently reduced to pay for whatever survivor benefit you elect:⁴

Full survivor annuity (50 percent to spouse): 10 percent reduction.
Partial survivor annuity (25 percent to spouse): 5 percent reduction.
No survivor annuity: no reduction, and nothing paid to your spouse after your death.

On a $40,000 unreduced annuity, that works out to $4,000 a year for the full benefit or $2,000 a year for the partial. Both of you should understand this arithmetic before your spouse signs anything, because the consent, once given and processed, is difficult to undo.

Completing Part 1: Retiring Employee

Get the form from your agency’s HR office, which usually includes it in the SF 3107 package. In Part 1 you enter your full legal name (last, first, middle), date of birth, and Social Security number. Then check every box that describes your election. More than one can apply. If you chose a partial survivor annuity for your current spouse and a partial for a former spouse, check both.⁵

The available boxes cover:

No regular or insurable interest survivor annuity for your current spouse.
An insurable interest annuity for your current spouse, but no regular survivor annuity.
A partial survivor annuity (25 percent) for your current spouse.
A maximum survivor annuity for a named former spouse.
A partial survivor annuity for a named former spouse, with space for up to two former spouses.

The boxes checked here must match exactly what you initialed in Section D of SF 3107. Mismatches are one of the fastest ways to get the package returned.

Completing Part 2: Current Spouse

Your spouse prints their name, then signs and dates the form. The printed language on the form states that they freely agree to the election in Part 1, understand that choosing no survivor annuity means their health benefits coverage ends after your death, and acknowledge that the consent is final and cannot be revoked.⁵ Your spouse must actually sign, not print, and must do so in the physical presence of the person completing Part 3.

Completing Part 3: Notary or Other Authorized Officer

A notary public is the usual choice, but the form does not require one specifically. Any person legally authorized to administer oaths qualifies, including certain court clerks, military officers, and some federal agency officials, depending on jurisdiction. The officer certifies that your spouse presented identification, signed voluntarily, and acknowledged the consent in their presence. They record the date, city, and state, affix their official seal, and sign. A notary must also fill in their commission expiration date.⁵

Mistakes That Get the Form Rejected

The form is short, but OPM is strict about how it is executed. Watch for these:

Missing, illegible, or expired-commission seal. A notary whose commission has lapsed at the time of signing invalidates the form.
Date mismatch between Part 2 and Part 3. If your spouse signed Tuesday and the notary completed their section Friday, the form is defective.
Election boxes on Part 1 that don’t correspond to what you initialed in Section D of SF 3107.
Corrections or white-out on the notarized portion. Start over with a clean copy instead.
Your spouse printing their name where a signature is required.

A rejected consent form can stall the entire retirement application, not just the survivor election. Check every field before leaving the notary’s desk.

Submitting the Form

SF 3107-2 does not go in on its own. Attach it to your SF 3107, Application for Immediate Retirement. If you are still on the federal payroll, hand the full package to your agency’s HR office, which forwards it to payroll and then to OPM.³

If you have already separated, mail the package directly to OPM:⁶

U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Retirement Operations Center
Post Office Box 45
Boyers, PA 16017

Keep a copy of the notarized SF 3107-2 in your own files. OPM sends a formal notice confirming your election once your retirement is finalized, but your own copy is what protects you if questions come up years later.

Changing the Election After Retirement

The consent is described on the form as final, but OPM allows narrow windows to change a survivor election after retirement. The deadlines run in opposite directions depending on which way you want to move:⁷

To reduce or cancel a survivor annuity: 30 days from the date of your first regular monthly annuity payment. Not an interim payment, but the first recurring payment after OPM finalizes your annuity rate. You submit a new SF 3107-2, signed by both of you and witnessed.
To elect or increase a survivor annuity: 18 months from your retirement date.

After those windows close, the election is irrevocable. Send change requests in writing to the Boyers, PA address above, and include your CSA claim number, the new election, your spouse’s name, Social Security number, date of birth, and a copy of your marriage certificate.⁷

When Consent Is Not Required

If your spouse cannot be located, you can ask OPM to waive the consent requirement. Request Standard Form 3111 from your employing agency for the waiver instructions.⁸ A qualifying court order on file with OPM, typically from a divorce or property settlement, can also override the default rules for the portion of the annuity it covers.

If your spouse simply refuses to sign, you cannot make the election they are refusing to consent to. OPM processes the retirement with the full survivor annuity and the 10-percent reduction. A missing signature is treated the same as a refusal, and the default protection stays in place.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 8416 – Survivor Reduction for a Current Spouse
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 8442 – Rights of a Widow or Widower
3
Office of Personnel Management. SF 3107 – Application for Immediate Retirement
4
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. How Is the Reduction Calculated?
5
NSSC Public Search Engine. SF 3107-2 – Spouse’s Consent to Survivor Election
6
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Change Your Mailing Address
7
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Can I Change My Survivor Benefit Election After Retirement?
8
Office of Personnel Management. Former Spouse’s Consent to FERS Election