DOMA and Survivor Annuities
With changes in policies regarding Survivor Annutities following the Supreme Court’s finding that Section 3 under the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutional, many benefits and other provisions impacting federal and postal workers must now be revisited. Measures have been extended to provide benefits to legally married same-sex spouses that had been previously denied.
Married couples have a number of benefits both under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). The same benefits under each retirement system are now available to legally married same-sex spouses. While all benefits are important and understanding those benefits is equally important, emphasis should be placed on Survivor Annuities.
Much of this information will be new and undoubtedly somewhat confusing for same-sex couples because they have not had the headache nor the privilege of having to deal with this before. Albeit, I would venture to say that it is a very welcome burden to bear. I have been teaching retirement classes for a while now and this subject is always a bit demanding initially. In a previous post, I stated that getting ready for retirement at any juncture of one’s career requires some work.
In order to have a complete understanding of Survivor Annuity under both CSRS and FERS requires not only ingesting all of the relevant information, but having a frank discuss with your family members as to what decision is best for your family. Benefits specialists and other planners may be able to make suggestions to you based on certain data, but the best information will come from you and your family. You have everything that is needed to make a good decision including the emotional profile of the why, the what, the when, the how and the what if.
Making such life-impacting decisions can sometimes be a real challenge. It is also an opportunity to have a conversation about some rather critical issues we spend too much time trying to avoid. Here is the rub, the Supreme Court has done some of the work, as a matter of fact, the stage has been set, now it is time to perform a duty for yourself and your family by safeguarding your future. Visit the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) website for information on Survivor Annuities. We will also dedicate some future posts to Survivor Annuities under both retirement systems.
P. S. Always Remember to Share What You Know.
