Information for Survivor Annuitants

What Should Be Done When You Die

Family members or friends should call to let us know of your death. They should be prepared to tell us your full name, survivor annuity claim number, date of death, and name of the former Federal employee on whose service your survivor annuity is based. If they cannot call, they should provide all of the above information in a letter sent to the address on page 1. Uncashed annuity checks must be returned to the U.S. Treasury Department, accompanied by a note informing us of the date of your death. If annuity payments are being deposited directly into an account at a financial institution, family members or friends should immediately notify the institution of your death. It is a violation of law for anyone to withdraw any payments that were deposited after you died.

No annuity is payable for the month in which a survivor annuitant dies. If uncashed checks dated before your death are returned to the Treasury Department, your survivors should call or write to us asking for an Application for Death Benefits so we can pay any monies due.

Information About Children's Survivor Annuity Benefits

The law provides survivor annuity benefits for eligible children of deceased Federal employees and annuitants. The annuitant does not elect or pay for these benefits and cannot prevent the children from receiving the benefits. Children's benefits are payable whether or not an adult survivor is being paid.

A child must be unmarried, be under the age of 18, and have been dependent on the deceased employee or retiree. A child is dependent on the deceased employee or retiree if he or she is (1) born within wedlock, (2) adopted, (3) a stepchild or recognized child born out of wedlock who lived with the employee or retiree in a regular parent-child relationship, or (4) a recognized child born out of wedlock whom the employee or retiree supported, either based on a court order or with voluntary regular and substantial contributions.

Unmarried children age 18 or over who can't support themselves because of a disability that began before age 18 and unmarried children age 18 to 22 who are full-time students also are eligible.

If a child's annuity is terminated because of marriage and the marriage ends before the child is age 22, you should inform us. We may be able to reinstate the child's benefit. Disabled children who are over the age of 22 may also be eligible for reinstated survivor benefits if their marriages end. Disabled children who were married when the employee or annuitant died may be eligible for survivor benefits if their marriages end. When you contact us, be sure to provide a copy of the divorce decree, annulment papers, or the death certificate of the child's spouse.

Adopted Children - Adopted children who meet the conditions stated on page 12 are eligible for survivor benefits. Retirement law defines an adopted child as a child adopted by the deceased employee or annuitant or a child who:

1. Lived with the deceased,
2. Is the subject of an adoption petition by the deceased prior to his or her death, and
3. Was adopted by the surviving spouse after the employee or retiree died.

Adult Student Children - Unmarried sons or daughters, age 18 to 22, who are full-time students at a high school, trade school, technical or vocational institute, junior college, college, university, or comparable recognized educational institution may apply for survivor benefits. Job Corps is not an educational institution.

The child's parent, guardian, or other responsible adult will receive a notice with instructions on how to continue an eligible student's annuity after he or she reaches age 18. If you do not follow the instructions, the annuity will be stopped on the last day of the month before the child's 18th birthday. If we continue annuity payments after age 18 for a child who is not eligible, you must notify us as instructed on pages 1 and 2 of this pamphlet.

Survivor annuity payments for an adult student stop at the end of the month before the one in which he or she: marries, dies, ceases to be a full-time student, enters military service on active duty, enters any of the Government service academies (such as the U.S. Naval Academy), transfers to a non-recognized school, fails to submit proof (when requested) that he or she is attending school full-time, or reaches age 22 - whichever occurs first. If an adult student whose 22nd birthday falls during the school year (September 1 through June 30) continues full-time schooling, we can continue payments to the end of the month preceding the one in which full-time schooling stops or to June 30 - whichever is earlier.

If the student's 22nd birthday is between September 1 and July 1 of the following year and the death of the employee/annuitant was during that same period, the student may be eligible for a monthly annuity.

Remember, failure to notify us if a student loses annuity eligibility will lead to overpayment and subsequent action to collect the money from you. (See page 2.)

An annuity that was terminated because the student left school or ceased being a full-time student can be resumed if he or she again becomes a full-time student before reaching age 22, provided he or she has not married. Also, we continue to pay annuity during breaks between school years, if these breaks are not longer than 5 months and if the student shows clear intention to continue as a full-time student.

Representative Payees for Children - A child's annuity is paid to his or her court-appointed legal guardian. If there is no legal guardian, payments will be made, at our discretion, to the person who is responsible for the child. When a student beneficiary reaches age 18, we will send the payments directly to the student if he or she asks us to do so.

When the Child's Family Circumstances Change - We need to be informed when the deceased annuitant's or employee's widow, widower, or former spouse dies, even if we are not paying the person, if he or she was the parent of any children who continues to receive a survivor annuity. It's important that we know because we must then establish a new payee for the child. In some cases, the death can result in an increase in the child's payments.

To establish a new payee after the death of a widow(er) or former spouse who was receiving annuity payments on behalf of a child, we will arrange to have the child's annuity payments sent to his or her court-appointed guardian. If no guardian is appointed, the payments will usually be sent to the person who is responsible for the child.

RI 25-26
Revised April 2001
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