The lump sum death benefit under FERS paid to survivors of deceased FERS employees or annuitants consists of the unrefunded amount of one or more of the following: (1) FERS contributions via payroll deduction withheld from the deceased employee’s pay throughout the employee’s years of full and part time permanent service; (2) deposits from temporary time occurring before Jan. 1, 1989; (3) deposits for prior military service; and. Since OPM’s Retirement Office does not know where a deceased FERS employee’s /annuitant’s relatives live, all FERS employees, no matter what stage they are in at this point of Federal service, should complete and submit Form SF 3102 which lists the names and addresses of designated beneficiaries (this is necessary because OPM mails the checks to the designated beneficiaries). If the deceased had less than three years of service at the time of his or her death, then the salary is simply averaged for the total period of service. The following are the requirements to be met in order for the BEDB is to be paid to the surviving spouse: (1) The employee had completed at least 18 months of creditable federal service at the time of his or her death; (2) the employee died while FERS deductions were being deducted from his or her paycheck; (3) the deceased employee was married to the surviving spouse for at least nine months, or the employee’s death was accidental, or there was a child born of the marriage to the employee and surviving spouse.

An employee may have left federal service and requested a refund of his or her previously made CSRS contributions. Monthly survivor annuity payments for a child can continue after age 18, if the child is a full-time student attending a recognized school. your survivor annuity begins on the day after the employee’s or retiree’s death. We consider the child dependent if there is proof that the deceased made regular and substantial contributions to the child’s support. An employee may have made a deposit for temporary time or military service. The amount of lump sum death benefit payment under FERS is not subject to Federal income tax because the original contributions were previously taxed. Reproduction without permission prohibited. If a former employee who dies with at least 10 years of creditable service (5 years of which must be creditable civilian service) is survived by a spouse who was married to the deceased at the time of his/her separation from Federal civilian service AND who: the spouse may be eligible for a monthly survivor benefit. The Basic Death Benefit Taxable.

Note that a deceased employee includes an employee who had applied for retirement under FERS but had not separated from federal service prior to his or her death. $15,000 increased by Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) cost-of-living adjustments beginning 12/1/87. P.O. A former spouse must also meet the nine month marriage requirement. This lump sum is payable under the order of precedence.

Therefore, a surviving spouse can also be paid the lump death benefit payment if that person is entitled to the lump sum death benefit payment under order of precedence. The BEDB is equal to: (1) $15,000, increased by all CSRS COLA’s beginning Dec. 1, 1987; plus (2) 50 percent of the employees’ final SF 50 salary, or the high-three average salary, if higher. Retirement Operations Center

It will be updated by future CSRS cost-of-living adjustments. A direct transfer election can be submitted with the application for death benefits, Form 3104B, Section 5, for those individuals who would like to make their direct transfer elections at the time they apply for death benefits. During a FERS employee’s federal service, the employee contributes 0.8, 3.1 or 4.4 percent of the employee’s salary to the FERS Retirement and Disability Fund. Federal employees’ spouses may be entitled to a Basic Employee Death Benefit (BEDB) upon the death of the employee if the following conditions are met: • You were married to the deceased employee for at least nine months. the current spouse was married to the employee for at least nine months (if the death was accidental or there was a child born of your marriage to the employee, the nine month requirement does not apply). The current factor for deaths occurring on or after Oct. 1, 2017, is 0.0299522. One question that came into our inbox recently – Is the basic employee death benefit taxable? If an employee dies in service or when an annuitant dies in retirement and there is no CSRS survivor annuity payable, then any portion of the total CSRS contributions made that has not been paid to the annuitant and survivor annuitant as part of a CSRS monthly or monthly survivor annuity is payable in the following precedence: (1) Designated beneficiary as shown on Form SF 2808 (Designation of Beneficiary, CSRS); (5) Executor or Administrator of the Estate; and. If no survivor annuity is payable upon the employee/former employee’s death, a lump sum may be payable of the unpaid balance of retirement contributions made by the employee. Those employees who contributed to both CSRS and FERS – in general, for at least five years to CSRS and then transferred to FERS (most probably during one of the two FERS “open seasons” that OPM conducted in 1987/1988 and in 1998) and will be retiring under FERS – will be receiving two annuities. Box 45

Any amount directly transferred is not subject to mandatory withholding. the child was adopted by the surviving spouse after the retiree died.

P.O. You should complete the Application for Death Benefits, Standard Form (SF) 3104 and attach any other forms and/or evidence as the application or circumstances require. Information regarding a No Beneficiary situation can be found in the CSRS section.

Finally, spouses and former spouses have the opportunity to directly transfer taxable lump-sum payments such as the BEDB into a traditional IRA or to the traditional TSP. Note that as of Jan. 1, 2019, the $15,000 has increased to $33,998.05. What happens to the employee’s CSRS or FERS contributions? The amount of the lump sum payment will be less than the sum of the remaining payments because the interest stops as of the date of the last payment. The total amount paid in 36 installments (in this example, 36 times $2,695.70, or $97,045.13) is larger than a single lump-sum payment (in this example $90,000) because the total of 36 payments includes interest. A surviving spouse may at any time elect to stop receiving the BEDB in installment payments and receive a lump payment of the remaining balance.

the employee who died completed at least 18 months of creditable civilian service, the former spouse was married to the employee for at least nine months, and, the employee completed at least 18 months of creditable civilian service, and, unmarried dependent child under age 18, and/or, unmarried dependent child from age 18 to age 22, if attending an accredited educational institution full-time, and/or. Unmarried disabled dependent children may receive recurring monthly benefits, if the disability occurred before age 18. If you are using assistive technology to view web content, please ensure your settings allow for the page content to update after initial load (this is sometimes called "forms mode"). Attach a copy of the employee’s death certificate and a copy of the certificate of the marriage to the widow or widower. This column discusses the Basic Employee Death Benefit (BEDB). Federal Employees Retirement System: the Basic Employee Death Benefit is payable to the spouse of a deceased employee who met certain eligibility requirements at the time of death. The BEDB is a death benefit paid to the current spouse (or former spouse if there is a court order and certain conditions are met) of a deceased employee covered by FERS who has met certain eligibility requirements on the date of death. If the former spouse loses entitlement because of death or remarriage before age 55, the current spouse may begin to receive the full annuity. Upon the death of the CSRS/CSRS Offset annuitant and if applicable survivor annuitant, designated beneficiaries for the CSRS lump sum death benefit must: (1) Complete the Application for Death Benefits (SF 2800) and attach any other forms and/or evidence as the application or circumstance require; and. The benefit begins on the date the deceased former employee would have been eligible for an unreduced annuity, unless the survivor chooses to have it begin at a lower rate on the day after the employee’s death.

was married to the deceased for at least nine months, or, the former employee’s death was accidental, or.

Additionally, if you are using assistive technology and would like to be notified of items via alert boxes, please, This website uses features which update page content based on user actions. If an employee dies and no survivor annuity is payable based on his/her death, the retirement contributions remaining to the deceased person’s credit in the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, plus applicable interest, are payable. He is a seminar speaker at Federal employee retirement seminars throughout the country for the National Institute of Transition Planning, Inc. (3) service performed after Dec. 31, 1988, under another retirement system for federal employees. If no direct transfer election is made with Form SF 3104B, then OPM will send the surviving spouse or former spouse of a deceased federal employee the direct transfer information after OPM computes the benefit. Information regarding Child Beneficiaries can be found in the CSRS section. If the death occurred as a result of an … If you are eligible for benefits and we are unable to pay you because another former spouse is entitled, your annuity would begin the day after the former spouse loses entitlement to benefits. Additional information about this factor can be found here in the November 7, 2014, Federal Register.