By Reg Jones
Passing away before retirement
November 3rd, 2011 | Survivor benefits
Q: My spouse is 56 and has 17 years in FERS. If she were to die prior to retiring, would I get a monthly annuity benefit or only the lump-sum benefit?
A: Because your spouse has 10 or more years of service, if she were to die while still an employee, you would receive both a lump-sum death benefit and a survivor annuity equal to 50 percent of her basic annuity. That annuity would be based on her high-3 and years of service on the day she died.
Tags: annuity, FERS, Survivor benefits
Survivor annuity cap
October 13th, 2011 | Survivor benefits
Q: I am the disabled dependent survivor of my father who was a federal employee for 30 years. I collect SSDI and Medicaid. Collecting the disabled child survivor annuity would put me over the unearned income limit to collect medicaid and I can’t afford insurance. Maine has a Medicare Savings Plan that I could join, but the income limits are very low and very strict. The income limit is $1,362 per month. I spoke with some legal specialists in the field of medicaid and they said that my SSDI COLAs would not affect my eligibility for this Medicare Savings Plan but the COLAs from the annuity would. I read somewhere online this quote:
“A benefit will not be increased if it would cause the annuitant to receive payments in excess of any cap amount specified by law.”
Does this mean I could get my annuity COLAs capped to remain eligible for this Medicare Savings Plan which is essentially the same thing as Medicaid?
A: If you are entitled to a cost-of-living adjustment, there is no provision in law that would permit your survivor annuity to be capped. The COLA would be applied.
Survivor annuities
October 12th, 2011 | Survivor benefits
Q: My father was a federal employee for 30 years, and he passed away in November. He listed me as his death benefit beneficiary with the intent to grant me an annuity. I applied as his disabled dependent child survivor. I filed my paperwork in January. I heard nothing for months. I finally contacted them by phone in June and asked them to send me forms for doctors to fill out for my claim. Are child survivor annuities retroactive? I heard that they begin on the day the retiree passes away. Are we entitled to them at that time, and if this much time has gone by, can I collect past monthly annuities due to me?
A: To be eligible for such a survivor benefit, you would have had to be disabled before age 18, unmarried, incapable of self support and dependent on the deceased parent. If you meet these criteria, your benefit would be retroactive.
Tags: survivor annuity
Retirement and survivor benefits
October 4th, 2011 | Survivor benefits
Q: My father has been a federal employee since 1975 under CSRS. He intends to retire at some point in 2012 and has already elected for my mother to receive survivor benefits. If he passes away before he formally retires, does my mother still receive the survivor benefits, and is the amount the same as the amount would be if he had first formally retired and then passed away? Or does his retirement need to vest before she can collect her full survivor benefits?
A: She would be entitled to a survivor annuity in either case. If he were to die before retiring, she’d receive 55 percent of the amount he would have been entitled to if he had retired on the day he died. If he died after retiring, it would be 55 percent of his unreduced annuity, increased by any cost-of-living adjustments made to annuities after he retired.
Tags: CSRS, retire, Survivor benefits
Survivor health benefits
August 4th, 2011 | Survivor benefits
Q. As a spouse of a federal retiree who has chosen not to purchase a survivor annuity, I am concerned about my health insurance. Iunderstand that I am covered after my husband’s death, however what is the procedure regarding my monthly payment? It is now taken out of my husband’s monthly retirement check, but how does that work after his death?
Survivor benefit amount
July 19th, 2011 | Survivor benefits
Q: What is the minimum amount of survivor benefit that I need to select if I want my wife covered under health insurance? Can I select $1?
A: Yes, but if you elect something other than a full survivor benefit, your spouse will have to agree to it in writing.
Tags: CSRS, HEALTH INSURANCE
Minimum survivor benefit
July 5th, 2011 | POST-RETIREMENT RETIREMENT Survivor annuities Survivor benefits
Q: I am a CSRS employee. What is the minimum survivor benefit I need to select if I want my wife covered under health insurance? Can I select $1?
A: Yes, but if you elect something other than a full survivor benefit, your spouse will have to agree to it in writing.
Tags: spouse insurance, survivor, survivor benefit, Survivor benefits
Survivors’ fund
June 13th, 2011 | Survivor benefits
Q: My spouse resigned from government under CSRS in 1988 and took his contribution out. He died IN 2000 at age 50. He was also in the military before the government CSRS job. Is there any fund(S) left in his account such as the government contribution, etc., for beneficiaries such as adult children or his wife?
A: Since he took a refund of his contributions to the retirement fund, he canceled all rights to any future benefits. You’d have to check with his branch of service to see if there are any benefits available from them.
Tags: CSRS, survivor annuity
Survivor annuity
June 13th, 2011 | Survivor benefits
Q: If I elected maximum survivor annuity for my current spouse,at retirement: (A) If I predecease my spouse, would she continue her survivor annuity pension and, what would happen with my annuity? (B) If my wife predeceases me, what would happen to her annuity pension. Would my annuity increase from absorbing her survivor annuity pension?
A: If you were to die before your spouse, your annuity would end and your spouse would receive the survivor annuity you elected for her. If she were to die before you, your annuity would be prospectively restored to what it would have been had you not elected a survivor annuity.
Survivor benefits
May 25th, 2011 | Survivor benefits
Q: I am 57 with more than 30 years of CSRS service. My husband is 60 and retired from the military in 1997 with 27 years of service. He soon will have 14 years with FERS. We plan on retiring in September. I know I’ll be affected by the “windfall” and “offset” because of Social Security that we’ve both paid, his while in the military and mine prior to my federal service. If my spouse dies before me, will I receive the full military survivor benefit ($500) that he designated from his military retirement or will it be reduced or eliminated as well?
A: There won’t be any reduction in your military survivor benefit.
Tags: CSRS, SOCIAL SECURITY