§2052 Death in Service

Summary

If a participant dies and no annuity can be paid, the participant’s lump‑sum credit and any voluntary contributions plus interest must be paid out in the normal order of precedence. If a participant dies before leaving the Agency and is survived by a spouse or a qualifying former spouse, that person gets a survivor annuity equal to 55% of a computed annuity. The survivor annuity starts the day after the participant dies and stops on the last day of the month before the survivor dies or remarries before age 55, subject to certain payment and restoration rules. To work out the amount, the participant’s annuity is calculated normally but must be at least the smaller of (A) 40% of the participant’s high‑3 average pay, or (B) the amount you get if you add years of service equal to the participant’s age at death minus 60. There are special limits if a former spouse also qualifies, and if a former spouse becomes eligible for an annuity under another rule (section 2034), that other annuity replaces the death‑in‑service annuity. Surviving children may also get annuities; the amount and eligibility depend on whether the death happened before or on/after April 1, 1992 and on whether a surviving spouse or a surviving former spouse is the child’s natural or adoptive parent. “Former spouse” means any former husband or wife, no matter how long they were married or how much service the participant had.