§2071 Lump-sum Payments

Summary

You can get a lump-sum credit payment when you leave the Agency for at least 31 straight days, are not moved into another government retirement system, file an application, are not working in a covered job when you apply, and will not become eligible for an annuity within 31 days after applying. Getting the lump sum cancels any annuity rights based on that service until you return to covered work. The payment may go to you and to any former spouse(s). Your payment is reduced by what is paid to former spouse(s). A former spouse gets 50 percent if married to you for your whole creditable service, or a proportional share of that 50 percent based on the number of days married during your service. Court orders about former spouses can change these shares. Before paying, the Director must be told in writing about your current spouse, any former spouse, and anyone with a court order, and the current spouse must give written agreement unless a narrow waiver applies. If the participant dies or other special situations occur, unpaid lump sums or accrued annuities are paid in this order: a signed and filed beneficiary designation, then surviving spouse, then children (and their descendants), then parents, then the estate’s executor or administrator, then other next of kin as the Director decides. If a former participant who would get a deferred annuity dies before age 62, payments follow the same order but are reduced by amounts due to former spouses. If a survivor annuitant dies, unpaid amounts go first to their executor or administrator, or if none, to next of kin after 30 days.