§8424 — Title 5 Government Organization and Employees | U.S. Code

Summary

You can get a lump-sum credit paid if you meet four rules: you have been away from the job or moved to a job not covered by these rules for at least 31 straight days, you apply for the payment, you are not working in a covered job when you apply, and you will not become eligible for an annuity within 31 days after you apply. The agency that handles these payments must tell your spouse and any former spouse that you applied. The agency will make rules that may block payment unless a spouse or former spouse agrees when a court order would otherwise protect that person’s right to an annuity or part of an annuity. The agency can also waive telling a spouse or former spouse if the spouse’s location cannot be found, and it must have rules for cases with more than one court order. You may name one or more beneficiaries under the agency’s rules. If a person dies, the lump sum goes to surviving people in this order: first to beneficiaries named in a signed, witnessed form filed before death (wills do not count), then to a widow or widower, then to children and their descendants, then to parents or the survivor of them, then to the executor or administrator of the estate, and finally to other next of kin under the law of the person’s home. A “child” means a natural or adopted child, not a stepchild. If annuity rights end before the lump-sum credit is fully paid, any remaining balance is paid. Any unpaid annuity that has already accrued is paid when an annuitant or survivor dies; if a survivor dies, that unpaid amount goes to the survivor’s executor or, after 30 days, to next of kin under the survivor’s home law.

Title 5, §8424

Government Organization and Employees — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Subject to subsection (b), an employee or Member who—

(1)(A)is separated from the service for at least 31 consecutive days; or

(B)is transferred to a position in which the individual is not subject to this chapter and remains in such a position for at least 31 consecutive days;

(2)files an application with the Office for payment of the lump-sum credit;

(3)is not reemployed in a position in which the individual is subject to this chapter at the time of filing the application; and

(4)will not become eligible to receive an annuity within 31 days after filing the application;

(b)(1)(A)Payment of the lump-sum credit under subsection (a) may be made only if the spouse, if any, and any former spouse of the employee or Member are notified of the employee or Member’s application.

(B)The Office shall prescribe regulations under which the lump-sum credit shall not be paid without the consent of a spouse or former spouse of the employee or Member where the Office has received such additional information or documentation as the Office may require that—

(i)a court order bars payment of the lump-sum credit in order to preserve the court’s ability to award an annuity under section 8445 or 8467; or

(ii)payment of the lump-sum credit would extinguish the entitlement of the spouse or former spouse, under a court order on file with the Office, to a survivor annuity under section 8445 or to any portion of an annuity under section 8467.

(2)(A)Notification of a spouse or former spouse under this subsection shall be made in accordance with such requirements as the Office shall by regulation prescribe.

(B)Under the regulations, the Office may provide that paragraph (1)(A) may be waived with respect to a spouse or former spouse if the employee or Member establishes to the satisfaction of the Office that the whereabouts of such spouse or former spouse cannot be determined.

(3)The Office shall prescribe regulations under which this subsection shall be applied in any case in which the Office receives two or more orders or decrees referred to in paragraph (1)(B)(i).

(c)Under regulations prescribed by the Office, an employee or Member, or a former employee or Member, may designate one or more beneficiaries under this section.

(d)Lump-sum benefits authorized by subsections (e) through (g) shall be paid to the individual or individuals surviving the employee or Member and alive at the date title to the payment arises in the following order of precedence, and the payment bars recovery by any other individual:First, to the beneficiary or beneficiaries designated by the employee or Member in a signed and witnessed writing received in the Office before the death of such employee or Member. For this purpose, a designation, change, or cancellation of beneficiary in a will or other document not so executed and filed has no force or effect. Second, if there is no designated beneficiary, to the widow or widower of the employee or Member. Third, if none of the above, to the child or children of the employee or Member and descendants of deceased children by representation. Fourth, if none of the above, to the parents of the employee or Member or the survivor of them. Fifth, if none of the above, to the duly appointed executor or administrator of the estate of the employee or Member. Sixth, if none of the above, to such other next of kin of the employee or Member as the Office determines to be entitled under the laws of the domicile of the employee or Member at the date of death of the employee or Member. For the purpose of this subsection, “child” includes a natural child and an adopted child, but does not include a stepchild.

(e)If an employee or Member, or former employee or Member, dies—

(1)without a survivor, or

(2)with a survivor or survivors and the right of all survivors under subchapter IV terminates before a claim for survivor annuity under such subchapter is filed,

(f)If all annuity rights under this chapter (other than under subchapter III of this chapter) based on the service of a deceased employee or Member terminate before the total annuity paid equals the lump-sum credit, the difference shall be paid.

(g)If an annuitant dies, annuity accrued and unpaid shall be paid.

(h)Annuity accrued and unpaid on the termination, except by death, of the annuity of an annuitant or survivor shall be paid to that individual. Annuity accrued and unpaid on the death of a survivor shall be paid in the following order of precedence, and the payment bars recovery by any other person:First, to the duly appointed executor or administrator of the estate of the survivor. Second, if there is no executor or administrator, payment may be made, after 30 days from the date of death of the survivor, to such next of kin of the survivor as the Office determines to be entitled under the laws of the domicile of the survivor at the date of death.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2009—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 111–84 substituted “based, until the employee or Member is reemployed in the service subject to this chapter.” for “based.” in concluding provisions. 2000—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 106–361 amended par. (1) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (1) read as follows: “Payment of the lump-sum credit under subsection (a)— “(A) may be made only if any current spouse and any former spouse of the employee or Member are notified of the application by the employee or Member; and “(B) in any case in which there is a former spouse, shall be subject to the terms of a court decree of divorce, annulment, or legal separation issued with respect to such former spouse if— “(i) the decree expressly relates to any portion of the lump-sum credit involved; and “(ii) payment of the lump-sum credit would affect any right or interest of the former spouse with respect to a survivor annuity under section 8445, or to any portion of an annuity under section 8467.”

§8424 Lump-sum Benefits; Designation of Beneficiary; Order of Precedence

Summary

Title 5, §8424

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Citations & Metadata