What Is a Survivor Annuity and How Does It Work?

A survivor annuity is a monthly payment made to a designated beneficiary — usually a spouse or a dependent child — after a retiree or plan participant dies. The payment continues a portion of the retirement income the deceased was receiving (or had earned the right to receive), and it is funded during the retiree’s lifetime by a reduction in their own pension check or by a monthly premium. The specific percentage, the eligibility rules, and the cost depend on which retirement system the deceased belonged to: the federal civilian systems (CSRS or FERS), the military Survivor Benefit Plan, or a private-sector pension governed by ERISA.

The Three Systems That Pay Survivor Annuities

Federal civilian employees hired after 1983 are covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), with survivor rights set out in 5 U.S.C. § 8442.¹ Employees hired before 1984 may fall under the older Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), governed by 5 U.S.C. § 8341.²

Retired military members can elect coverage under the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), established at 10 U.S.C. § 1447 and the sections that follow.³ SBP works like an insurance policy: the retiree pays a monthly premium out of retired pay, and in exchange a surviving spouse or child receives an annuity for life (subject to the rules below).

Private-sector defined benefit pensions must offer survivor protection under 29 U.S.C. § 1055. The default form of payment is a qualified joint and survivor annuity (QJSA), which automatically pays a survivor annuity to the spouse after the participant dies unless the spouse consents in writing to a different election. If a vested employee dies before retirement, the plan must pay a qualified preretirement survivor annuity (QPSA) to the surviving spouse.⁴

Who Qualifies to Receive the Payments

Current Spouse

Under CSRS and FERS, a surviving spouse qualifies if the marriage lasted at least nine months before the employee’s or retiree’s death. The nine-month rule is waived if the death was accidental or if a child was born of the marriage.⁵⁶ Private-sector ERISA plans use a one-year marriage requirement measured against the annuity starting date or the date of death.⁴

Former Spouse

A former spouse can receive a survivor annuity only if a qualifying court order from the divorce, legal separation, or annulment specifically directs it. For federal civilian retirees who retired on or after May 7, 1985, OPM honors such an order only to the extent the annuity was already reduced for that person at retirement or by court order.⁷

Dependent Children

Unmarried dependent children under 18 receive monthly payments. Coverage extends to age 22 for a full-time student. A child who is incapable of self-support because of a disability that began before age 18 keeps receiving payments indefinitely.⁸⁹

Insurable Interest Designees

If no eligible spouse or child exists, a federal civilian retiree can designate someone with an “insurable interest” — a person who would suffer financial loss from the retiree’s death, such as a domestic partner, sibling, or other relative. Naming an insurable interest beneficiary reduces the retiree’s own annuity by 10 to 40 percent, based on the age gap. Naming someone the same age or older costs a 10 percent reduction; naming someone 30 or more years younger costs 40 percent.¹⁰

How Much the Survivor Receives

The benefit is expressed as a percentage of the retiree’s annuity, and the percentage depends on the system:

CSRS: 55 percent of the retiree’s unreduced annuity is the standard survivor benefit. A retiree may elect a smaller portion, which reduces both the survivor’s future payment and the cost during the retiree’s lifetime.²
FERS: 50 percent of the retiree’s annuity under the full election, or 25 percent under partial coverage. FERS also pays a one-time Basic Employee Death Benefit when a current employee with at least 18 months of civilian service dies. For deaths on or after December 1, 2025, that lump sum equals 50 percent of the employee’s final (or higher average) salary plus $43,800.53, with the fixed portion adjusted annually.¹⁵
Military SBP: 55 percent of the “base amount” the service member selected at retirement. The base amount can be full retired pay or a lesser figure chosen at retirement.³
Private ERISA plans: At least 50 percent of the amount paid during the joint lives of the participant and spouse. Plans can offer up to 100 percent. If a vested defined contribution participant subject to these rules dies before retirement, the surviving spouse is entitled to at least 50 percent of the nonforfeitable account balance as a preretirement survivor annuity.⁴¹¹

What It Costs the Retiree, and Why Spousal Consent Matters

Survivor coverage isn’t free. In CSRS and FERS, the retiree’s monthly annuity is reduced during their lifetime to fund the future survivor benefit. Under military SBP, retirees who first entered service on or after March 1, 1990 pay a flat 6.5 percent of the elected base amount each month, deducted from retired pay. Those who entered before that date may pay under an older formula that can result in a slightly higher percentage on portions of the base amount above a threshold.

Because that reduction affects a spouse’s future income, the law requires the spouse to sign off on anything less than full survivor coverage. In CSRS, a married retiree who elects a reduced benefit or waives it must have the spouse’s consent notarized. Private-sector ERISA plans impose the same rule: a participant cannot waive the joint and survivor annuity or name a non-spouse beneficiary without the spouse’s written, witnessed consent.⁴ Without that signature, the reduced or waived election won’t be processed.

Taxes, Inflation Adjustments, and Health Coverage

Survivor annuity payments are treated as taxable income, the same way the retiree’s pension was. If the deceased made after-tax contributions to the plan, a portion of each payment is a tax-free return of those contributions and the rest is taxable.¹² Under FERS, if a spouse receives the Basic Employee Death Benefit as a lump sum and no recurring survivor annuity is being paid, the portion equal to the employee’s own FERS contributions is tax-free; if a recurring annuity is also payable, the entire lump sum is taxable because the employee contributions are allocated to the recurring benefit.¹³ The 10 percent early-distribution penalty does not apply to payments received after the participant’s death. You can adjust withholding by submitting Form W-4P to the paying agency.

Federal survivor annuities receive annual cost-of-living adjustments. CSRS survivors get the full CPI increase, which is 2.8 percent for 2026. FERS uses a reduced formula: if CPI rises more than 2 percent but not more than 3 percent, the COLA is capped at 2 percent; if CPI exceeds 3 percent, the COLA is 1 percentage point below the CPI figure.¹⁴ For 2026 that produces a 2.0 percent FERS increase.¹⁵ Military SBP annuities are also adjusted annually. A survivor’s first COLA is prorated by one-twelfth for each month benefits were received during the year; children’s benefits are not prorated.

Health coverage often continues. A surviving spouse can stay on the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program if the deceased was enrolled in a self-plus-one or self-and-family plan at the time of death and the survivor is entitled to a monthly annuity or the Basic Employee Death Benefit.¹⁶ Surviving spouses of retired military members keep TRICARE eligibility (Prime, Select, or For Life) with the same options and costs as before, unless they remarry.¹⁷

Claiming the Benefit After a Death

The first step is reporting the death. For federal civilian retirees, that means notifying the Office of Personnel Management by phone or through the online report-of-death form.¹⁸ For military retirees, notify the Defense Finance and Accounting Service online, by mail, or by phone at 1-800-321-1080.¹⁹ Reporting stops the retiree’s payments and opens the survivor’s claim.

The survivor then submits the appropriate death benefit application. If the deceased died in active federal civilian employment, CSRS survivors file SF 2800 and FERS survivors file SF 3104 and SF 3104B, together with a certified death certificate and, for spouse claims, a marriage certificate.¹⁸ OPM currently averages about 34 days to process a survivor annuity claim and about 89 days for a survivor lump-sum claim; cases involving court orders or missing documents take longer.²⁰ The first payment usually includes a retroactive amount covering the period from the date of death.

When the Payments End

Remarriage before age 55. A surviving spouse’s annuity terminates on remarriage before age 55. The exception: if the marriage to the deceased lasted at least 30 years, remarriage at any age doesn’t end the benefit. Military SBP uses the same age-55 threshold, and if the later marriage ends by death, divorce, or annulment, SBP can be restored.⁸²¹
A child ages out. Children’s benefits end at 18, or at 22 for a full-time student. They also stop if the child marries, dies, drops below full-time enrollment, transfers to a nonrecognized school, or enters military service.²²
Disabled children. A child incapable of self-support because of a disability that began before age 18 continues to receive the annuity indefinitely. If the disability began after 18, payments end at 22 for a student.⁹
Death of the survivor. The annuity ends on the last day of the month before the survivor’s death.
Insurable interest annuities. These run for the designee’s lifetime and are not affected by marital status, unlike spousal annuities.²²

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 U.S. Code 8442 – Rights of a Widow or Widower
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 U.S. Code 8341 – Survivor Annuities
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC Subtitle A, Part II, Chapter 73, Subchapter II – Survivor Benefit Plan
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 1055 – Requirement of Joint and Survivor Annuity and Preretirement Survivor Annuity
5
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Survivors – FERS Information
6
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Survivors – CSRS Information
7
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. I Have Divorced – Is My Former Husband or Wife Eligible for a Survivor Benefit
8
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Learn More About Survivor Benefits and Retirement
9
eCFR. Subpart D – Child Annuities
10
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. How Is the Insurable Interest Survivor Benefit Reduction Calculated
11
eCFR. Requirements of Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity and Qualified Preretirement Survivor Annuity
12
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 410 – Pensions and Annuities
13
Internal Revenue Service. Tax Guide to U.S. Civil Service Retirement Benefits
14
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. How Is the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Determined
15
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Learn More About Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA)
16
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Survivor Benefits
17
TRICARE. Survivors of Retired Service Members
18
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Report of Death
19
Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Report a Retiree’s Death
20
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Retirement Processing Times
21
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 U.S. Code 1450 – Payment of Annuity – Beneficiaries
22
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Information for Survivor Annuitants – Federal Employees Retirement System