After some thirty-five years of marriage, a woman filed for divorce. Before the divorce was finalized, her husband retired from the Army. He elected a survivor’s annuity for his spouse even though they were in the process of getting a divorce. When the ex wife filed paperwork with OPM to receive her survivor annuity after her former husband died, the agency turned her down and the court upholds the ruling to deny her the annuity.
Here’s a rather bizarre case revolving around who should be paid death benefits for a federal employee whose husband was found to have been responsible for her death.
The widow of a federal employee who missed having 10 years of creditable federal service by thirteen days, has now lost before the appeals court on her bid for a survivor annuity benefit under FERS.
Some financial planners believe that a survivor annuity is a good choice, while others may encourage you to forgo a survivor annuity and to purchase life insurance with the money you “saved” by not electing a survivor annuity. Here are several considerations.
Should you elect a survivor benefit for your spouse? You must pay for survivor benefits out of your annuity. Here are the costs and some of the considerations when you make this decision.
A surviving widow of a retired federal employee tried without success to convince OPM, the MSPB and the appeals court that her deceased husband had provided her a survivor’s annuity.
Federal retirement expert John Grobe recently wrote an article read by tens of thousands of readers entitled “What Happens to Your Federal Employee Benefits if You Die While Still Working?” Some readers had questions or wanted more information. Here are answers to some of the more frequent questions. Please read this in conjunction with the previous article on this subject.
A court of appeals finds that OPM had an obligation to to check out the facts of a case that impact the election of a survivor annuity. The case is therefore sent back to the Board for a new decision based on the finding of the court.
The federal retirement system can be complex and confusing. Add a divorce into the mix, and the confusion and complexity increase. Here is a recent case that shows how confusing the issue of a survivor annuity can become as a result of a divorce.
