Federal Employee's CSRS & FERS Federal Civil Service Retirement
& Financial Planning Resources
Survivors must have access to critical information to report deaths to OPM,
process changes to their benefits, cash in insurance policies, change asset
registrations, and to continue their annuity after a retiree passes on. This
section is designed to help survivors at this difficult time. This guide along
with the
Estate Planning section can make this task much easier for all concerned.
Proper planning can dramatically reduce your estate costs through easy to use
probate avoidance techniques. You will find the
checklist on this page useful and you can download a Word file so that you can
tailor your checklist to your unique needs. I used the book
Plan Your Estate
to guide me through this process and I highly recommend
this title to all who are either planning to retire or have retired from federal
service. I also suggest that you purchase a copy of
The Executors Guide
and keep this valuable reference with your will and
estate plan. The Executor's Guide assists the survivor to complete all necessary
tasks to ensure the survivor's benefits remain in tact and that the estate is
settled timely.
Survivor's Guide Menu
FREE Downloadable Microsoft Word File
Prepared by: __________________________
Date Prepared: _______________
This checklist will help survivors focus on key areas that need to be
addressed and to insure important forms are submitted so that a spouse’s
annuity will continue and assets are properly transferred.
Survivors, executors and/or co-executors should review “
Plan Your Estate
and
The Executors Guide.” These books are located
_________________________________________ (Specify location). They explain
probate, wills and trusts, and other areas that the Executors will need. Our
wills are located _________________________________________. (Specify location)
- Read letter of Instruction (See
Sample)
- Review a copy of
The Executors Guide
(This book will help you settle a loved one's
estate and trust. Written in plain-English it will help you read a will,
transfer property, handle probate, work with relatives, and make sense of it
all.) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
- Review Survivor’s Report (See
Sample)
- Review Financial reports (See
Estate Planning Section)
- Complete the SF 2800 form for CSRS or the
SF 3104 for FERS annuitants. (You can
fill out and print these forms on your computer)
NOTE: Attach a copy of the employee’s death certificate and
a copy of the certificate of the marriage to the widow or
widower. Send the completed application to:
Office of Personnel Management
Retirement Operations Center
ATTENTION: Death Claims Section
Post Office Box 45
Boyers, Pennsylvania 16017-0045
A widow or widower who is claiming benefits for himself or herself and on
behalf of children should file one application.
This form will continue your spouses’ annuity. Your spouse will receive 55%
of what your total annuity unless you and spouse agreed to a reduced survivor’s
annuity at the time you retired. Your spouses’ medical coverage will
continue. Complete instructions are included on the web site mentioned
above. You will need to do the following:
- Attach a copy of your marriage certificate (Make sure you have a copy
for your spouse to file with this document)
- Attach a copy of the retirees DD form 214 (For military service
only)
- Attach a CERTIFIED copy of the death certificate
- Mail to address listed on the SF-2800 form
- Send US Mail Certified with return receipt
- KEEP A COPY OF EVERYTHING YOU SEND
NOTE: If you don’t hear back from OPM within 2 weeks call
888-767-6738 to follow-up. You can email them at
retire@opm.gov.
Call the Office of Personnel Management
(OPM) at 1-888-767-6738 if you have any questions or to
have them send you out copies of the forms if you aren't
able to complete them online. You can also submit a report of death on OPM’s web site at
http://www.opm.gov/retire. Select
the tab titled “Contacting Us” then select “Report the death of someone who
gets benefits from us.
- Check to confirm that your Government Health Care Coverage was changed
from “Family” to “Self.” This is done automatically by OPM, however,
sometimes it falls through the cracks. This will save the surviving spouse
several thousand dollars a year in health care premiums. OPM should send out
the proper forms when you report a retiree's death to them. If you don't
receive the proper forms, call OPM immediately and request the forms to make
this change.
- Review Contact Lists – (Attach a list of critical contact information)
- Includes Login IDs and Passwords lists for all online program
and account information.
- A print out of your address books is located
__________________________. This includes most of the contact
information that you will need.
- Go through all desk files to familiarize yourselves with what is there
and where policies and other data are located.
- Register the will with the court house. Many assets will transfer
out of probate.
Note: Our jointly owned assets such as checking and savings accounts, stocks
and bonds, house and cars go automatically to the surviving spouse in most
states. Review
The Executors Guide
for detailed guidance. Assets owned individually have
designated beneficiaries, “Pay on Death” account designations or are passed
direct to our children or loved ones through “Living Trusts” located
__________________________. Living Trusts are not recorded like the will.
Read the instructions with the Living Trusts and use the book
Plan Your Estate
for more guidance.
- File insurance claims – Survivor’s report lists ALL insurance contact
information and you will find insurance policies located in
_______________________________. You will need a death certificate for each
policy. I have the following policies:
- FEGLI (Federal Employees Government Life Insurance)
$________ until retirement, $_____________ after retirement. There
number is (1-800-633-4542).
- Company Name: ___________________ for $___________ Beneficiaries
_________________________
Phone #: _____________________
- Company Name: ___________________ for $ __________ Beneficiaries
_________________________
Phone #: _____________________
- Company Name: ___________________ for $ __________ Beneficiaries
_________________________
Phone #: _____________________
- Change registration on all common assets:
- Change name on residence to “Spouse - or loved ones - "Name”
or to a “Living Trust” to avoid probate. Prepare your Legal Documents Online
including a a “Living Trust” for “Surviving Spouse or loved
ones.”
- Change name on all joint assets to “Surviving Spouse” with
designated beneficiary or if no surviving spouse to designated beneficiaries. (Add “Pay on Death (POD)” whenever possible when you
register the documents to avoid probate later.)
- Some assets/stocks, etc will go direct to “children or other
loved ones” upon either my or my “Spouse's” death. Designated
beneficiaries must send in a certified death certificate
to the account/asset manager to change the registration to the new
owner.
Note: New owners need to
identify beneficiaries or add (Pay on Death) POD. Be sure to add a
beneficiary or POD designation for the new owner registration.
- All of my savings bonds are designated Pay on Death (POD) to
_________________. All the “Surviving Spouse” or beneficiary has to do is
present a Certified Death Certificate to the bank when you cash the bonds
in. the “Surviving Spouse” or beneficiary will have to pay taxes on the bond
interest. Make sure the bank provides a statement of interest earned for
income taxes the year they were cashed.
- All income tax files for the past____ years are located
________________________________________________.
- Print a copy of the
Master Contact List, available on this site, for your use.
OPM publishes two informative booklets for FERS and CSRS survivors. You can
download the PDF files here and print them out on your computer. I recommend
placing a copy of the booklet for the system you retired under in your
Survivor's Binder or store a copy with your will.
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