[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 149 (Friday, August 2, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 47018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-18665]


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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.

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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: 
[email protected].
    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