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Military Pension Survivor Benefits
by: Upper Midwest Pension Rights Project
Question: My husband served in the U.S. Army for 22 years. We married in 1980 and he retired in 1985. He is currently receiving a military pension. Will I receive any of his military pension if I survive him?
ANSWER: In many cases, surviving spouses of military retirees can continue to get pension benefits. In the military, this payment option is called a "Survivor Benefit Plan," or SBP for short. Under this option, the retiree will get slightly smaller benefit payments during his or her life. If the retiree dies first, his or her surviving spouse will get up to 55% of the retiree's benefit. Rights to survivor benefits depend mostly on:
- when your spouse retired,
- when you were married, and
- whether you agreed to give up survivor benefits.
If your spouse has a military pension and retired before March 1, 1986, it would be his sole decision whether to choose survivor benefits. If he did not choose survivor benefits, then he could not generally change this unless Congress approved an "open enrollment" period.
For military retirements on or after March 1, 1986, the survivor benefit rules are different. If a military retiree was married at the time of retirement, the spouse must receive the full 55% SBP survivor benefit unless he or she consented in writing. If a retiree married after his or her retirement, then the spouse would automatically be eligible for full SBP survivor benefits after one year, unless the retiree declined SBP survivor coverage before their first anniversary. If this happened, the spouse would be notified, but he or she would not have to consent.
Since your husband retired before March 1, 1986, he would have decided when he retired whether to sign you up for SBP survivor benefits. If he did not, generally the only way to change this would be during a special open enrollment period which only Congress can approve.
The rules for military retiree survivor benefits are very complex. In addition to the above general rules, there are many exceptions, including an adjustment of benefits when a survivor is eligible to receive Social Security. If you think you should be getting a military survivor pension, you should contact a pension attorney. Iowans who need help with military survivor's benefits or other pension issues can obtain free legal help from the Upper Midwest Pension Rights Project, which is partially funded by the Retirement Research Foundation, the U.S. Administration on Aging and Iowa Legal Aid. Contact the Project at 800-992-8161.
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