A survivor annuity is a retirement benefit that keeps paying a designated person, most often a spouse, after the original retiree dies. To make that possible, the retiree accepts a somewhat smaller monthly payment during their lifetime, and in exchange the plan guarantees continuing income to the survivor. Both private pension plans governed by federal law and the two federal civil service retirement systems offer some version of this benefit, though the percentages, filing rules, and default beneficiaries differ.
How the Payment and the Reduction Work
At retirement, the plan calculates two figures: the full benefit the retiree would receive alone, and a reduced benefit that funds a second payment stream over a second lifetime. The reduction functions like a built-in insurance premium. Once elected, the choice is generally locked in for the rest of the retiree’s life.
The survivor’s check is a percentage of the retiree’s benefit rather than the full amount. Under the Civil Service Retirement System, the maximum survivor annuity is 55% of the retiree’s unreduced benefit. Under the Federal Employees Retirement System, it is 50%. Private-sector plans set their own percentages, but federal law requires the survivor payment to be at least 50% of the benefit earned during the marriage for a plan to qualify as a joint and survivor annuity.
Who Can Be Named as the Beneficiary
The current spouse is the default beneficiary in both federal and private plans. A former spouse can also qualify when a divorce decree or court-approved property settlement awards them a share of the survivor annuity. In the federal system, the Office of Personnel Management must comply with qualifying court orders directing former-spouse survivor payments, and those orders can override a retiree’s later election in favor of a new spouse.
Unmarried dependent children of the deceased are often eligible as well. Federal rules generally cover children under 18, or up to age 22 if they are full-time students. A widow or widower filing on behalf of children uses a single application that covers everyone.
The Insurable Interest Option
Federal retirees who want to name someone outside the usual family categories can use the insurable interest provision. Under this rule, a retiree may designate anyone who would suffer a real financial loss from the retiree’s death, such as a business partner or a more distant relative. An insurable interest is automatically presumed for current spouses, domestic partners, blood or adopted relatives closer than first cousins, former spouses, and fiancés. For anyone else, the retiree must submit sworn statements from people with personal knowledge of the financial relationship. Electing this option also requires the retiree to pass, and pay for, a medical exam proving good health.
Private Pensions Under ERISA
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act requires every defined benefit pension plan to offer a Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity as the automatic payment form for married participants. If you are married and vested in a private-sector pension, your plan must pay your spouse a survivor annuity unless both of you actively opt out.
Opting out is deliberately hard. The spouse must consent in writing, acknowledge the financial effect of giving up the benefit, and have the signature witnessed by a plan representative or a notary public. A participant cannot waive the survivor annuity alone. Congress built in this protection because before ERISA, many spouses discovered only after a death that their expected pension had vanished.
If a couple divorces after retirement, a Qualified Domestic Relations Order can require the plan to treat the former spouse as beneficiary for some or all of the survivor annuity. A divorced participant who wants to change beneficiaries for any portion not tied up by a court order should contact the plan administrator promptly; the divorce itself does not automatically change plan records.
Federal Civil Service Survivor Benefits
The federal government runs two retirement systems. CSRS covers employees who entered federal service before 1984. FERS covers most employees hired after that date. Both provide survivor annuities, but FERS layers on a separate lump-sum death benefit that CSRS does not.
Under CSRS
The maximum survivor annuity for a spouse is 55% of the retiree’s unreduced annual benefit, funded by a reduction to the retiree’s own annuity. Survivors of employees who die in service may also be entitled to a benefit calculated from the projected annuity the employee would have received had they retired on the date of death.
Under FERS
FERS pays a recurring survivor annuity of up to 50% of the employee’s computed benefit for a spouse, provided the employee completed at least 10 years of creditable service. On top of that, a surviving spouse receives a one-time Basic Employee Death Benefit equal to 50% of the employee’s final annual pay plus an inflation-adjusted lump sum, so long as the employee had at least 18 months of civilian service. The lump sum can be taken as a single payment or, for deaths on or after October 2021, spread across 36 monthly installments.
What Remarriage Does to the Benefit
Remarriage can end a survivor annuity, and the rules turn on age. Across federal retirement programs, a surviving spouse or former spouse who remarries before age 55 generally loses the annuity. Remarriage at 55 or older does not affect the payments.
Private-sector plans vary. ERISA does not impose a uniform remarriage rule on Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuities, so each plan’s own terms control. Some private pensions keep paying regardless of remarriage; others stop. Check the plan document before assuming the income will continue.
How Survivor Annuity Payments Are Taxed
Survivor annuity payments are taxable income. The plan administrator or OPM sends a Form 1099-R each year showing the total distributions, and the amount is taxed at ordinary income rates rather than capital gains rates.
If the deceased retiree made after-tax contributions to the plan, part of each payment may be excluded from tax as a return of those contributions. The plan administrator calculates the exclusion ratio, and it stays the same for the life of the annuity. Once the after-tax contributions have been fully recovered, every dollar becomes taxable. Review the first 1099-R carefully to see what portion, if any, is nontaxable.
Health Coverage for the Survivor
For federal families, continued health coverage can matter as much as the annuity. A survivor annuitant may keep Federal Employees Health Benefits coverage, but only if they were already covered as a family member under the deceased employee’s or retiree’s plan at the time of death. There is no post-death open enrollment, so continuous family enrollment while the employee is alive is what preserves the option.
Private-sector survivors lose employer-sponsored coverage when the retiree dies. COBRA continuation is available for up to 36 months, with the survivor paying the full premium plus a 2% administrative fee. After that, coverage has to come from the Health Insurance Marketplace or another source.
Filing a Claim
Every survivor claim starts with the deceased’s Social Security number and a certified copy of the death certificate. Federal survivors also need the retiree’s OPM claim number, which starts with “CSA” for retirees or “CSF” for survivors; OPM can look it up if you don’t have it. You will also need your marriage certificate and details of any prior marriages or dependent children.
The right form depends on the retirement system. CSRS survivors file Form SF 2800. FERS survivors file Form SF 3104, plus the supplemental SF 3104B if the deceased was still an employee at death. Both forms are on the OPM website, and a single application covers the spouse and any dependent children. Federal claims are mailed to OPM’s Retirement Operations Center in Boyers, Pennsylvania. Private-sector claims go through the plan’s HR department or third-party administrator, and many plans now accept them through secure online portals.
OPM processing is slow. Initial survivor claims commonly take 60 to 90 days, and cases involving court orders or disputed beneficiaries take longer. Expect an acknowledgment letter with a tracking number within a few weeks; if a month passes with no acknowledgment, contact OPM’s Retirement Services directly. One practical warning: any retirement payments that land in the deceased retiree’s account after the date of death will be reclaimed, even from a joint account, so leave those deposits alone until OPM issues its reclamation notice.