
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 5USC8424]

 
             TITLE 5--GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
 
                           PART III--EMPLOYEES
 
                   Subpart G--Insurance and Annuities
 
            CHAPTER 84--FEDERAL EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM
 
                      SUBCHAPTER II--BASIC ANNUITY
 
Sec. 8424. Lump-sum benefits; designation of beneficiary; order 
        of precedence
        
    (a) Subject to subsection (b), an employee or Member who--
        (1)(A) is separated from the service for at least 31 consecutive 
    days; or
        (B) is transferred to a position in which the individual is not 
    subject to this chapter and remains in such a position for at least 
    31 consecutive days;
        (2) files an application with the Office for payment of the 
    lump-sum credit;
        (3) is not reemployed in a position in which the individual is 
    subject to this chapter at the time of filing the application; and
        (4) will not become eligible to receive an annuity within 31 
    days after filing the application;

is entitled to be paid the lump-sum credit. Except as provided in 
section 8420a, payment of the lump-sum credit to an employee or Member 
voids all annuity rights under this subchapter, and subchapters IV and V 
of this chapter, based on the service on which the lump-sum credit is 
based.
    (b)(1)(A) Payment of the lump-sum credit under subsection (a) may be 
made only if the spouse, if any, and any former spouse of the employee 
or Member are notified of the employee or Member's application.
    (B) The Office shall prescribe regulations under which the lump-sum 
credit shall not be paid without the consent of a spouse or former 
spouse of the employee or Member where the Office has received such 
additional information or documentation as the Office may require that--
        (i) a court order bars payment of the lump-sum credit in order 
    to preserve the court's ability to award an annuity under section 
    8445 or 8467; or
        (ii) payment of the lump-sum credit would extinguish the 
    entitlement of the spouse or former spouse, under a court order on 
    file with the Office, to a survivor annuity under section 8445 or to 
    any portion of an annuity under section 8467.

    (2)(A) Notification of a spouse or former spouse under this 
subsection shall be made in accordance with such requirements as the 
Office shall by regulation prescribe.
    (B) Under the regulations, the Office may provide that paragraph 
(1)(A) may be waived with respect to a spouse or former spouse if the 
employee or Member establishes to the satisfaction of the Office that 
the whereabouts of such spouse or former spouse cannot be determined.
    (3) The Office shall prescribe regulations under which this 
subsection shall be applied in any case in which the Office receives two 
or more orders or decrees referred to in paragraph (1)(B)(i).
    (c) Under regulations prescribed by the Office, an employee or 
Member, or a former employee or Member, may designate one or more 
beneficiaries under this section.
    (d) Lump-sum benefits authorized by subsections (e) through (g) 
shall be paid to the individual or individuals surviving the employee or 
Member and alive at the date title to the payment arises in the 
following order of precedence, and the payment bars recovery by any 
other individual:
        First, to the beneficiary or beneficiaries designated by the 
    employee or Member in a signed and witnessed writing received in the 
    Office before the death of such employee or Member. For this 
    purpose, a designation, change, or cancellation of beneficiary in a 
    will or other document not so executed and filed has no force or 
    effect.
        Second, if there is no designated beneficiary, to the widow or 
    widower of the employee or Member.
        Third, if none of the above, to the child or children of the 
    employee or Member and descendants of deceased children by 
    representation.
        Fourth, if none of the above, to the parents of the employee or 
    Member or the survivor of them.
        Fifth, if none of the above, to the duly appointed executor or 
    administrator of the estate of the employee or Member.
        Sixth, if none of the above, to such other next of kin of the 
    employee or Member as the Office determines to be entitled under the 
    laws of the domicile of the employee or Member at the date of death 
    of the employee or Member.

For the purpose of this subsection, ``child'' includes a natural child 
and an adopted child, but does not include a stepchild.
    (e) If an employee or Member, or former employee or Member, dies--
        (1) without a survivor, or
        (2) with a survivor or survivors and the right of all survivors 
    under subchapter IV terminates before a claim for survivor annuity 
    under such subchapter is filed,

the lump-sum credit shall be paid.
    (f) If all annuity rights under this chapter (other than under 
subchapter III of this chapter) based on the service of a deceased 
employee or Member terminate before the total annuity paid equals the 
lump-sum credit, the difference shall be paid.
    (g) If an annuitant dies, annuity accrued and unpaid shall be paid.
    (h) Annuity accrued and unpaid on the termination, except by death, 
of the annuity of an annuitant or survivor shall be paid to that 
individual. Annuity accrued and unpaid on the death of a survivor shall 
be paid in the following order of precedence, and the payment bars 
recovery by any other person:
        First, to the duly appointed executor or administrator of the 
    estate of the survivor.
        Second, if there is no executor or administrator, payment may be 
    made, after 30 days from the date of death of the survivor, to such 
    next of kin of the survivor as the Office determines to be entitled 
    under the laws of the domicile of the survivor at the date of death.

(Added Pub. L. 99-335, title I, Sec. 101(a), June 6, 1986, 100 Stat. 
539; amended Pub. L. 106-361, Sec. 3(b), Oct. 27, 2000, 114 Stat. 1402.)


                               Amendments

    2000--Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 106-361 amended par. (1) generally. 
Prior to amendment, par. (1) read as follows: ``Payment of the lump-sum 
credit under subsection (a)--
        ``(A) may be made only if any current spouse and any former 
    spouse of the employee or Member are notified of the application by 
    the employee or Member; and
        ``(B) in any case in which there is a former spouse, shall be 
    subject to the terms of a court decree of divorce, annulment, or 
    legal separation issued with respect to such former spouse if--
            ``(i) the decree expressly relates to any portion of the 
        lump-sum credit involved; and
            ``(ii) payment of the lump-sum credit would affect any right 
        or interest of the former spouse with respect to a survivor 
        annuity under section 8445, or to any portion of an annuity 
        under section 8467.''

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 8402, 8433, 8442, 8468 of 
this title; title 50 section 2154.
