Civil Service Retirement System and Federal Employees' Retirement System; Notice to Same-Sex Spouses of Deceased Federal Employees or Annuitants Whose Marriages Lasted Less Than Nine Months

Résumé

To establish entitlement to a survivor annuity or basic employee death benefit ("BEDB") under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS), a "widow" or "widower" must have been married to a federal employee or annuitant for at least 9 months immediately before the employee or annuitant's death. Same-sex spouses of deceased federal employees or annuitants whose spouse died prior to the time the 9-month marriage requirement could be satisfied may have been prevented or frustrated from satisfying this eligibility requirement as a result of provisions enacted under the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) or state laws prohibiting same sex marriages, now understood to have been unconstitutional. Therefore, this notice provides information about when, and under what circumstances, OPM will deem the 9-month marriage requirement satisfied, notwithstanding the actual duration of the marriage, to provide affected applicants with benefits they could have obtained had they been permitted to marry earlier in their states of residence.