[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 149 (Friday, August 2, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 47018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-18665]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
Civil Service Retirement System and Federal Employees' Retirement
System; Opportunity for Annuitants to Elect Survivor Annuity Benefits
for Same-Sex Spouses
AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is providing notice
of a 2-year opportunity for annuitants who are in legal same-sex
marriages to elect survivor annuities for their spouses under the Civil
Service Retirement System (CSRS) and Federal Employees' Retirement
System (FERS).
DATES: All retirees who are in legal same-sex marriages have through
June 26, 2015, to inform OPM that they have legal same-sex marriages
that now qualify for recognition and to elect survivor annuities for
their spouses based on their recognized marital status.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Information by Phone: Call the
Retirement Information Office toll-free at 1-888-767-6738. If you use
TTY equipment, call 1-855-887-4957. Be sure to have your claim number
(CSA number) on hand when you call a specialist. Information by Email:
retire@opm.gov.
Information or Elections by Mail: U.S. Office of Personnel
Management, Retirement Operations Center, PO Box 45, Boyers, PA, 16017-
0045. Please include your full name and your claim number (CSA number)
in your correspondence.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA) provided that, when used in a Federal law, the term ``marriage''
would mean only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband
and wife, and that the term ``spouse'' referred only to a person of the
opposite sex who is a husband or a wife. Because of DOMA, the Federal
Government has been prohibited from recognizing the legal marriages of
same-sex couples for purposes of retirement benefit programs.
On June 26, 2013, in United States v. Windsor, 570 U.S. ----
(2013), the Supreme Court of the United States (Supreme Court) ruled
that Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional. As a result of this
decision, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is now able to
extend benefits to Federal employees and annuitants who are legally
married to spouses of the same sex, regardless of the employees' or
annuitants' states of residency. Consistent with OPM's long-standing
policy of recognizing the legal foreign marriages of opposite-sex
couples for purposes of the retirement benefit programs that OPM
administers, OPM will also recognize legal same-sex marriages granted
in countries that authorize such marriages, regardless of the
employees' or annuitants' states of residency, for purposes of these
programs.
As OPM stated in its June 28, 2013 Memorandum for Heads of
Executive Departments and Agencies, all retirees who are in legal same-
sex marriages will have 2 years from the June 26, 2013 date of the
Supreme Court's decision (i.e, through June 26, 2015) to inform OPM
that they have legal marriages that now qualify for recognition and to
elect reductions in their CSRS or FERS retirement annuities to provide
survivor annuity benefits for their spouses, based on their recognized
marital status. An annuitant should be aware that electing a survivor
annuity will require a reduction of his/her annuity to provide the
survivor annuity, or an adjustment of the amount of reduction currently
being made to provide an insurable interest annuity to change the
reduction amount to a survivor annuity reduction. Before an election is
made, we recommend that the annuitants carefully consider what effect
the reduction or change in reduction will have on the amount of their
net annuities.
Annuitants should consider their language carefully before sending
OPM written requests regarding survivor benefits for their spouses. An
annuitant who contacts OPM and only request information about the
effect a survivor election would have on the annuity will receive a
statement describing the cost of the election and an election form that
would need to be returned to OPM by June 26, 2015, to elect the
survivor benefit. An annuitant who sends a signed statement or letter
to OPM and indicates that he/she wants to elect a survivor benefit for
a spouse will also receive a statement describing the cost of the
election; he/she will not be able to change his/her mind about
providing the survivor benefit. Unless otherwise specified, OPM will
consider any requests for information about survivor benefits or any
signed elections of survivor benefits as requests for information or
elections of the maximum survivor benefit. More information about the
election and the survivor reduction is provided at http://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/my-annuity-and-benefits/life-events/#url=MarriageDivorce.
A request for information about survivor annuity benefits or
signed, written elections of survivor benefits should be accompanied
with a copy of the marriage certificate proving the same-sex marriage.
Please be advised that an election of a survivor annuity is
irrevocable. An annuitant will not be able to change an election later.
We strongly urge annuitants to carefully consider elections before
submitting them to OPM.
U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Elaine Kaplan,
Acting Director.
[FR Doc. 2013-18665 Filed 8-1-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-38-P