A spouse annuity
under the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) is a monthly amount
paid to the wife or husband of a retired railroad employee.
A divorced spouse annuity under the RRA is a monthly amount
paid to a person who is legally divorced from the employee.
Included are the requirements you must meet to receive
a spouse or divorced spouse annuity.
Shorten the processing time for your annuity application
by submitting proof of your date of birth and proof of marriage
or divorce to your local Railroad Retirement Board (RRB)
office
now. Booklet
RB-3 Furnishing
Evidence to Support Your Claim will explain acceptable
evidence for proof of age and proof of marriage or divorce.
Whenever sending documents to the RRB, always include
your name, social security number, and daytime telephone
number where you can be reached.
You may file your application up to three months before
your annuity beginning date. We recommend that you read
this booklet and read booklet RB-3
Furnishing Evidence
to Support Your Claim before you file your annuity
application.
Marriage
Requirements for Spouse or Divorced Spouse Annuity
Spouse
Annuity Marriage Requirements -
In order to qualify for a spouse annuity, you must be the
legal spouse of the railroad employee and you must have been
legally married to the railroad employee for at least one
year immediately prior to filing your spouse annuity
application. The one-year marriage requirement is waived if
any of the following conditions exist:
- you are the natural parent of the railroad employee's
child;
- you were eligible for a
widow(er)'s parent's or disabled child's annuity under
the RRA in the month before your marriage to the
employee; or,
- you had met the one-year marriage requirement for a
previous spouse annuity on the employee's earnings record
before a divorce and you later remarried that employee.
Divorced Spouse
Annuity Marriage Requirements -
The marriage requirement for a divorced spouse annuity
is met if your marriage ended by a final divorce decree
and:
- you were legally married to the railroad employee for at least
10 consecutive years immediately preceding the date of
your final divorce decree; and,
- you are divorced from that railroad employee; and,
- you are not currently married to anyone. (If you remarried
after the divorce from the employee, the later marriage
must have terminated.)
Age Requirements
For Spouse Annuity or Divorced Spouse Annuity
The employee must be currently receiving an employee
annuity and must attain a certain age in order for you to
qualify for a spouse annuity or divorced spouse
annuity. If the employee has attained the required
age, you may then be eligible for a spouse annuity,
regardless of your age, if you have the employee's Child-in-Care.
Otherwise, your own age requirement is explained in this
section.
Spouse
Annuity Age Requirements -
The age requirement for a
spouse annuity depends on both the employee's total months
of railroad service and the employee's Annuity
Beginning Date (ABD). Your Full
Retirement Age affects
the amount of any age reduction to your spouse annuity.
- Employee’s
ABD is After December 2001 and Based on 60-119 Months
of Railroad Service with at Least 60 Months of Railroad
Service After 1995 -
The employee must
be at least age 62 to qualify you for a spouse annuity.
The employee must have a
Social Security
(SS) Act Insured Status
to qualify you for a Tier
1 component. You must have attained age 62 for a full
month.
- Employee's
ABD is After December 1974 and Based on 120-359 Months
of Railroad Service -
The employee must be at least age 62 to qualify you for
a spouse annuity. You must have attained age 62 for a
full month.
- Employee’s
ABD is After June 1974 and Based on at Least 360 Months
of Railroad Service -
The
employee must be at least age 60 to qualify you for a
spouse annuity beginning January 1,
1975, or later. You must have attained age 60 for a full
month.
- Employee’s
ABD is Before January 1975 if the Employee Has Less Than
360 Months of Railroad Service or Employee's ABD is Before
July 1974 if the Employee Has at Least 360 Months of Railroad
Service - The employee
must be at least age 65 to qualify you for a spouse annuity.
You must have attained age 62 for a full month.
Divorced
Spouse Annuity Age Requirements -
If the employee
is totally and permanently disabled with a disability
freeze, the employee must be at least age 62. If the
employee is receiving an age and service annuity or a disability
annuity without a disability freeze, the employee must be
at least age 62 for a full month. You must have attained
age 62 for a full month.
Annuity Based on Child-in-Care
Spouse Annuity -
A wife may qualify for a full spouse
annuity, or a husband may qualify for a Tier
1 only spouse benefit, based on having a child of the
employee in care. The employee must have attained age 62
(or age 60 with 30 years of service) to qualify the spouse
for this annuity. The child must be either:
- under age 18; or,
- age 18 or older with a permanent
disability that began before the child attained age 22
that makes the child unable to perform any type of regular
employment.
The term Child-in-Care
includes the railroad employee’s unmarried natural child,
or unmarried dependent adopted child, stepchild, or, under
certain conditions, a grandchild whose parents are deceased
or disabled.
A child is in your care if you exercise parental control
over, and are responsible for, the welfare and care of the
child. If the child is permanently disabled, but mentally
competent, he or she is considered to be in your care if
you perform personal services for that child. The RRB will
make the final determination regarding the personal services
you perform and whether or not they constitute the child
being in your care.
Divorced Spouse
Annuity -
There is no provision in the Railroad Retirement Act for
a divorced spouse annuity based on having a
Child-in-Care.
Additional
Requirements You Must Meet to Receive a Divorced Spouse
Annuity
In addition to the
marriage
requirements for a divorced spouse annuity and
the
age
requirement for a divorced spouse annuity, the
RRA states that, to qualify for a divorced spouse annuity,
the following conditions must also apply:
- You cannot be entitled to a benefit from the Social
Security Administration (SSA) based on your own earnings
(before any reductions for age, earnings, etc.) that is
equal to or greater than your divorced spouse annuity
(before any reductions for age, earnings, etc.); and,
- You cannot be entitled to another RRA annuity based
on a different claim number that is equal to or greater
than your divorced spouse annuity.
Your divorced spouse annuity cannot begin before the railroad
employee’s annuity begins.
Additional
Requirements for Annuities Based on 60-119 Months of Railroad
Service with at Least 60 Months of Railroad Service After
1995
If the employee annuity is based
on 60-119 months of railroad service with at least 60 months
of railroad service after 1995, the employee must have a
Social Security (SS)
Act Insured Status on combined railroad earnings,
creditable military service earnings, and social security
earnings to qualify you for a spouse annuity Tier
1 component or for a divorced spouse annuity.
An SS
Act Insured Status is based on Quarters
of Coverage (QC). In general, the SS Act specifies
an amount for each calendar year that will qualify the wage
earner for a QC for that year. If the employee earns that
amount (or a multiple of that amount up to 4 QCs), the employee's
earnings record will be credited with those QCs.
The employee has an SS
Act Insured Status if:
- Employee Annuity
Based on Age - The
employee must have a Fully
Insured Status as defined in the SS Act, but using combined railroad earnings, creditable
military service earnings, and social security earnings.
The SS Act QC requirement for a Fully
Insured Status for employees born after 1928 is 40 QCs.
- Employee Annuity
Based on Disability -
The employee
must have a Disability
Freeze (D/F) as defined
in the SS Act, but using combined railroad earnings, creditable
military service earnings, and social security earnings.
The SS Act requirements are:
- The employee
must be rated totally and permanently disabled;
- The employee must have a Fully
Insured Status. Generally, the QC requirement
for a Fully Insured
Status is at least one QC for each calendar
year after the year the employee attained age 21 through
the year in which the employee became disabled; and,
- The employee must have at least 20 QCs in a period
of 40 consecutive calendar quarters (10 years) ending
with the quarter of the disability onset date. This
is also referred to as the 20-in-40 QC test.
Selecting
Type of Annuity on Your Application
When you file your application for
a spouse annuity or divorced spouse annuity, your application
must indicate the type of annuity for which you are filing.
Spouse Annuity -
The type of annuity on your application
should be based on whether you are filing based on your
age or based on having a Child-in-Care.
- Choose Full
Age Annuity if you
believe that you qualify for a spouse annuity that is
not reduced for early retirement. You
should also indicate whether or not you would accept a
Reduced Age
Annuity should you
be found not eligible for a Full
Age Annuity. Full Age Annuity
means that:
- You
have attained Full
Retirement Age;
- the employee is not receiving
a 60/30 annuity that is reduced for retirement before
age 62 with an ABD before January 2002 (see
summary chart); and,
- you did not previously receive
an age reduced spouse annuity or age reduced divorced
spouse annuity on the same earnings record.
- Choose Reduced
Age Annuity if you
believe that you do not meet the requirements for a spouse
annuity that is not reduced for early retirement. If you
previously received a spouse annuity or divorced spouse
annuity on the same earnings record that had an age reduction,
choose Reduced
Age Annuity.
- Choose Reduced 60/30
Age Annuity if the employee is receiving a 60/30
annuity that is reduced for retirement before age 62 with
an ABD before January 2002 (see
summary
chart).
- Choose Annuity
Based on Children
if you want your annuity to be based on having a child
of the employee in your care, regardless of your age.
You should also indicate whether or not you would accept
a Reduced Age
Annuity should you
be found not eligible for a Full
Age Annuity based
on having a Child-in-Care.
Divorced Spouse Annuity
-
The type of annuity depends on
your age and whether you were previously entitled to an
annuity on the same earnings record.
- Choose Full
Age Annuity if you
meet the requirements for a divorced spouse annuity
that is not reduced for early retirement. You
should also indicate whether or not you would accept
a
Reduced Age
Annuity should you
be found not eligible for a Full
Age Annuity. Full
Age Annuity means that:
- You have attained Full Retirement
Age; and,
- You did not receive an age
reduced spouse annuity before your divorce.
- Choose Reduced
Age Annuity if you
do not meet the requirement for a Full
Age Annuity.
- Choose Divorced
Spouse With Previous Spouse Annuity Age Reduction
if you previously received
a spouse annuity based on the same earnings record that
had an age reduction and that terminated due to your divorce
from the employee.
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