
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 22USC4055]

 
               TITLE 22--FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE
 
                       CHAPTER 52--FOREIGN SERVICE
 
       SUBCHAPTER VIII--FOREIGN SERVICE RETIREMENT AND DISABILITY
 
        Part I--Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System
 
Sec. 4055. Lump-sum payments


(a) Requirements for payment

    (1) A participant is entitled to be paid a lump-sum credit if the 
participant--
        (A) is separated from the Service for at least 31 consecutive 
    days, or is transferred to a position in which the participant is 
    not subject to this subchapter and remains in such a position for at 
    least 31 consecutive days;
        (B) files an application with the Secretary of State for payment 
    of the lump-sum credit;
        (C) is not reemployed in a position in which the participant is 
    subject to this subchapter at the time the participant files the 
    application;
        (D) will not become eligible to receive an annuity under this 
    part within 31 days after filing the application; and
        (E) has notified any spouse or former spouse the participant may 
    have of the application for payment in accordance with regulations 
    prescribed by the Secretary of State.

Such regulations may provide for waiver of subparagraph (E) under 
circumstances described in section 4046(b)(1)(D) of this title.
    (2) Such lump-sum credit shall be paid to the participant and to any 
former spouse of the participant in accordance with subsection (i) of 
this section.

(b) Recall service; return of contributions

    Whenever an annuitant becomes separated from the Service following a 
period of recall service without becoming eligible for a supplemental or 
recomputed annuity under section 4063 of this title, the compulsory 
contributions of the annuitant to the Fund for such service, together 
with any special contributions the annuitant may have made for other 
service performed after the date of separation from the Service which 
forms the basis for annuity, shall be returned to the annuitant (and any 
former spouse of the annuitant who was married to the participant during 
the period of recall service, in accordance with subsection (i) of this 
section).

(c) Difference between annuity and lump-sum credit

    If all annuity rights under this part based on the service of a 
deceased participant or annuitant terminate before the total annuity 
paid equals the lump-sum credit to which the participant or annuitant is 
entitled, the difference shall be paid in accordance with subsection (f) 
of this section.

(d) Lack of eligible survivors

    If a participant or former participant dies and is not survived by 
an individual eligible for an annuity under this part or by such an 
individual or individuals all of whose annuity rights terminate before a 
claim for survivor annuity is filed, the lump-sum credit to which the 
participant or annuitant is entitled shall be paid in accordance with 
subsection (f) of this section.

(e) Death of annuitant who was former participant

    If an annuitant who was a former participant dies, any annuity 
accrued and unpaid shall be paid in accordance with subsection (f) of 
this section.

(f) Order of precedence for payments

    Payments under subsections (c) through (e) of this section shall be 
paid in the following order of precedence to individuals surviving the 
participant and alive on the date entitlement to the payment arises, 
upon the establishment of a valid claim therefor, and such payment shall 
be a bar to recovery by any other person:
        (1) To the beneficiary or beneficiaries last designated by the 
    participant before or after retirement in a signed and witnessed 
    writing filed with the Secretary of State prior to the death of the 
    participant, for which purpose a designation, change, or 
    cancellation of beneficiary in a will or other document which is not 
    so executed and filed shall have no force or effect.
        (2) If there is no such beneficiary, to the surviving wife or 
    husband of the participant.
        (3) If none of the above, to the child (without regard to the 
    definition in section 4044(2) of this title) or children of the 
    participant (including adopted and natural children but not 
    stepchildren) and descendants of deceased children by 
    representation.
        (4) If none of the above, to the parents of the participant or 
    the survivor of them.
        (5) If none of the above, to the duly appointed executor or 
    administrator of the estate of the participant.
        (6) If none of the above, to such other next of kin of the 
    participant as may be determined in the judgment of the Secretary of 
    State to be legally entitled to such payment, except that no payment 
    shall be made under this paragraph until after the expiration of 30 
    days after the death of the participant or annuitant.

(g) Death of survivor annuitant

    Annuity accrued and unpaid on the death of a survivor annuitant 
shall be paid in the following order of precedence, and the payment bars 
recovery by any other person:
        (1) To the duly appointed executor or administrator of the 
    estate of the survivor annuitant.
        (2) If there is no such executor or administrator, to such 
    person as may be determined by the Secretary of State (after the 
    expiration of 30 days from the date of death of the survivor 
    annuitant) to be entitled under the laws of the domicile of the 
    survivor annuitant at the time of death.

(h) Amount of credit

    \1\ Amounts deducted and withheld from basic salary of a participant 
under section 4045 of this title from the beginning of the first pay 
period after the participant has completed 35 years of service computed 
under section 4056 of this title (excluding service credit for unused 
sick leave under section 4056(b) of this title), together with interest 
on the amounts at the rate of 3 percent a year compounded annually from 
the date of the deduction to the date of retirement or death, shall be 
applied toward any special contribution due under section 4045(d) of 
this title), and any balance not so required shall be refunded in a lump 
sum to the participant after separation or, in the event of a death in 
service, to a beneficiary in the order of precedence specified in 
subsection (f) of this section.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ See Amendment of Section note below.
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(i) Former spouses

    Unless otherwise expressly provided by any spousal agreement or 
court order under section 4060(b)(1) of this title, the amount of a 
participant's or former participant's lump-sum credit payable to a 
former spouse of that participant shall be--
        (1) if the former spouse was married to the participant 
    throughout the period of creditable service of the participant, 50 
    percent of the lump-sum credit to which such participant would be 
    entitled in the absence of this subsection, or
        (2) if such former spouse was not married to the participant 
    throughout such creditable service, an amount equal to such former 
    spouse's pro rata share of 50 percent of such lump-sum credit.

The lump-sum credit of the participant shall be reduced by the amount of 
the lump-sum credit payable to the former spouse. For the purposes of 
this subsection, the term ``creditable service'' means service which is 
creditable under part I or II of this subchapter.

(Pub. L. 96-465, title I, Sec. 815, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2116; Pub. 
L. 99-335, title IV, Secs. 402(a)(2), 404(c), 413, June 6, 1986, 100 
Stat. 609, 610, 614; Pub. L. 100-238, title II, Sec. 218, Jan. 8, 1988, 
101 Stat. 1775.)

                          Amendment of Section

        Section 1(a) and (c) of Ex. Ord. No. 12446, Oct. 17, 1983, 48 
    F.R. 48443, set out as a note under section 4067 of this title, 
    provided that the first sentence of subsection (h) of this section, 
    applicable (i) to contributions for civilian service performed on or 
    after the first day of Nov. 1983, (ii) to contributions for prior 
    refunds to participants for which application is received by the 
    employing agency on and after such first day of Nov. 1983, and (iii) 
    to excess contributions under section 4055(h) of this title and 
    voluntary contributions under section 4065(a) of this title from the 
    first day of Nov. 1983, is deemed to be amended to provide that 
    interest shall be compounded at the annual rate of 3 percent per 
    annum through December 31, 1984, and thereafter at a rate equal to 
    the overall average yield to the Fund during the preceding fiscal 
    year from all obligations purchased by the Secretary of the Treasury 
    during such fiscal year under section 4059 of this title, as 
    determined by the Secretary of the Treasury.


                               Amendments

    1988--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100-238 amended subsec. (a) generally. 
Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) read as follows: ``Whenever a 
participant becomes separated from the Service without becoming eligible 
for an annuity or a deferred annuity under this subchapter, a lump-sum 
credit shall be paid to the participant (and to any former spouse of the 
participant, in accordance with subsection (i) of this section). A 
participant who becomes subject to part II of this subchapter shall be 
entitled to payment of the lump-sum credit if, and to the extent that, 
such lump-sum credit relates to service of a type described in clauses 
(i) through (iii) of section 302(a)(1)(C) of the Federal Employees' 
Retirement System Act of 1986.''
    1986--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99-335, Sec. 413, inserted provision 
relating to payment of a lump-sum credit for a participant who becomes 
subject to part II of this subchapter.
    Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 99-335, Sec. 402(a)(2), substituted 
``part'' for ``subchapter''.
    Subsec. (i). Pub. L. 99-335, Sec. 404(c), inserted provision 
defining ``creditable service'' as service creditable under part I or II 
of this subchapter.


                    Effective Date of 1988 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 100-238 effective 90 days after Jan. 8, 1988, 
see section 261(a) of Pub. L. 100-238, set out as a note under section 
4054 of this title.


                    Effective Date of 1986 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 99-335 effective Jan. 1, 1987, see section 
702(a) of Pub. L. 99-335, set out as an Effective Date note under 
section 8401 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 4009, 4010, 4048, 4049, 
4050, 4056, 4060, 4063, 4065, 4071j of this title.
